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You are here: Home / Archives for Boeing

Nixon statement on Missouri not landing Boeing project

January 4, 2014 By Mike Lear

Governor Jay Nixon is presenting a positive message in response to the news that Missouri will not be the site for construction of the Boeing 777X airliner.

Governor Jay Nixon

Governor Jay Nixon

In a statement, Nixon thanks, “the members of the General Assembly, our community colleges and our partners in business, labor and government for putting together a nationally recognized proposal that made Missouri one of the finalists for production of the Boeing 777X.”

Nixon says the efforts by those groups, “demonstrated once again that with an outstanding business climate, strong schools and a highly skilled workforce, Missouri is ready to compete in the 21st century global economy.”

He also noted a recent decision by Boeing to bring 700 research and technology jobs to St. Louis, and called that, “proof positive that Missouri is a top destination for high-tech jobs and investment.” Nixon adds, “I look forward to continuing our long-standing partnership with this global aerospace leader and building on this solid foundation of growth.”

Filed Under: News, Politics / Govt Tagged With: Boeing, Jay Nixon

Washington State union vote means Boeing airliner won’t be built in Missouri

January 4, 2014 By Mike Lear

No part of the Boeing 777X airliner will be built in Missouri.

Boeing's 777-9X

Boeing’s 777-9X

That’s after a machinists union in Washington State voted last night to accept a contract that will see the plane and its composite wing built there. The vote ends the bid by Missouri and several other states to bring production of at least part of the plane to sites within their borders.

The state legislature met in special session last month and approved a 1.7-billion dollar expansion of existing tax incentives for Boeing if it had chosen to build the plane in St. Louis. St. Louis County pledged another 1.8-billion in tax breaks.

Missouri leaders projected assembly of the 777X would have brought as many as 8,000 jobs to the St. Louis region and perhaps tens of thousands more jobs throughout the state.

The Washington union had rejected an earlier contract proposal from Boeing because of changes it made to pensions and health care benefits. It was that rejection in November that lead to Missouri and as many as 22 other states scrambling to win the project. The union’s vote Friday to adopt the new contract was a narrow 51-percent to 49-percent.

Filed Under: Business, News, Politics / Govt Tagged With: 777X, Boeing

SPECIAL SESSION: Boeing incentive bill goes to Governor Nixon

December 6, 2013 By Mike Lear

The state legislature has sent Governor Jay Nixon everything he wants in an incentive package to try to get Boeing to build its 777X airliner.

Legislators discuss how to deal with a clerical error regarding the Boeing incentive bill. (Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Legislators discuss how to deal with a clerical error regarding the Boeing incentive bill. (Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

At least, that’s what House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) believes.

“It’s my understanding that Governor Nixon agrees that everything that he requested was placed into the Senate Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 1 that we have now truly agreed and finally passed to his desk.”

Jones has signed that bill and says Senate Leader Tom Dempsey (R-St. Charles) will be doing the same today. A staffer with Governor Nixon’s Office says it will review the bill as it would any other before offering comment or taking action.

“The ball is put back in his court to put Missouri’s best foot forward,” Jones says of Nixon.

The legislation extends for Boeing limits on four economic development programs, translating to an offer of up to 1.7-billion in tax incentives. Nixon hopes that, combined with local incentives and agreements by Union leaders and community colleges in the state, will get Boeing to create as many as 8,000 jobs in Missouri.

Missouri and at least 12 other states must submit offers to Boeing by Tuesday. Jones thinks Boeing will not make selections until some time in January.

While the House discussed that bill today, it was learned that part of an amendment offered by Senator Brad Lager (R-Savannah) was omitted in the copy it received from the Senate due to an error by Senate staff.

Majority Floor Leader John Diehl (R-Town and Country) explained to legislators how leadership intended to fix the problem in a way that it thought was transparent, starting with distributing to the representatives a copy that matched what was in the chamber’s journal.

“The journals are all correct … we’re going to ask the members to vote on a resolution acknowledging that everybody here understands that this is what we’re going to be voting on and third read in a few minutes.”

The fix was endorsed by Representative Jeff Roorda (D-Barnhart), who on the House floor told Diehl, “I think the record is clear that there is probably nobody in the room that is more likely to call you if you’ve got it wrong on procedural stuff (than me). I’m not here to do that today.”

Diehl says such problems are not uncommon, but leadership felt the resolution was necessary since lawmakers were dealing with only one bill in the special session, creating greater scrutiny on that one measure.

He says the Governor’s staff was involved in the discussion of that error and was comfortable with the fix.

A legislative staffer says there is also legal precedent establishing that an error by legislative staff can not impact the passage of legislation.

 

Filed Under: Business, Legislature, News Tagged With: Boeing, Brad Lager, Jay Nixon, Jeff Roorda, John Diehl, Tim Jones, Tom Dempsey

SPECIAL SESSION: Boeing incentive debate shifts to House

December 6, 2013 By Mike Lear

The House today debates the Senate’s version of a bill that offers up to 1.7-billion over 23 years to Boeing if it will build its 777X airliner in Missouri.

St. Charles representative Anne Zerr is carrying the Boeing incentive proposal in the House.

St. Charles representative Anne Zerr is carrying the Boeing incentive proposal in the House.

If the bill, Senate Bill 1, clears the House without changes that would essentially end the special session Governor Jay Nixon called so lawmakers could consider his proposal. Jason Zamkus with the Governor’s Office told the House Economic Devlopment Committee the bill “absolutely” gives the Governor everything he wanted from the legislature in order to make a pitch to Boeing.

Lawmakers have been relying on Nixon to tell them what Boeing says it wants from the state in which it will build the 777X.

Follow House debate of the Boeing incentive bill on Twitter by following @molegislature.

The bill would extend the limits on four economic development programs for Boeing, and require the aerospace company to report annually on the hiring and training of minorities and women, a check in 10 years of the state’s benefit from the deal and would make sure tax increment financing dollars go only to Boeing and not Lambert Airport.

Representative Anne Zerr (R-St. Charles) is carrying the bill in the House. She says what the legislature has put together since Monday is remarkable.

“It shows that we’re eager, we’re willing and we can step up to the plate,” Zerr says. “Quite frankly this is unprecedented. We’ve got both chambers working together, both sides of the aisle working together, we’ve got the Governor working with us, we’ve got labor working with us, and I think that shows that we can get something done.”

If the House passes the bill it could be signed by the leaders of both the House and the Senate and delivered to the Governor today. Missouri is competing with a least 12 other states for 777X production. All offers are due to Boeing by Tuesday.

Filed Under: Legislature, News Tagged With: 777X, Boeing, Missouri House of Representatives, Missouri Senate

SPECIAL SESSION: Labor leaders back Boeing incentives

December 4, 2013 By Mike Lear

Labor groups in Missouri have been among those expressing support for the legislative effort to bring production of a Boeing commercial airliner to Missouri.

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley (left) and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay were among those that testified to two legislative committees in support of Boeing incentives.

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley (left) and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay were among those that testified to two legislative committees in support of Boeing incentives.

Jeff Aboussie, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the St. Louis Building Trades is among those that testified in hearings for both the Senate and House Economic Development committees about legislation proposed by Governor Jay Nixon, that would offer Boeing $150-million in incentives to build the 777X in Missouri.

Nixon earlier in the day announced that St. Louis-area construction labor councils had agreed to a round-the-clock work schedule, without overtime, while a facility is constructed to produce the 777X. Aboussie told lawmakers the building trades groups understood that construction time is of the essence for Boeing, and says that work schedule would benefit the workers those groups represent.

“The building trades proposal was to work an accelerated schedule and take a project that could last up to five years and reduce that time to two years and nine months … that has definitely an economic impact on our region,” Aboussie testified. “Right now we have approximately 25-percent unemployment in the construction trade. We would be putting people back to work, paying taxes, affording homes, sending their kids to schools.”

Mike Lewis, a lobbyist for the Missouri AFL-CIO, addressed concerns by some that there could be an issue for the St. Louis machinists union regarding the Boeing deal. A sister union in the State of Washington rejected pension concessions, prompting Boeing to look outside that state for a site to build the 777X.

Lewis, who represents groups including the International Association of Machinists, told the House committee that after his group learned of the project he contacted the international president of the machinists union.

“Our concern was we didn’t want to get in a bidding war of the machinists union between St. Louis and Seattle,” Lewis said. “They assured us that the package that was offered by Boeing to the Seattle employees was not that much different than what was accepted here in 2012. They told us to go for it. They don’t want to lose this package. They don’t want it to go anywhere else. St. Louis would be a perfect fit and they’re excited about it.”

The House and Senate committees both endorsed the proposal. The Senate will take up the legislation today.

Filed Under: Legislature, News Tagged With: 777X, Boeing, Missouri House of Representatives, Missouri State Senate

SPECIAL SESSION: Nixon announces agreement with St. Louis labor groups on Boeing offer

December 3, 2013 By Mike Lear

St. Louis-area building trades union leaders have agreed that workers will be available 24/7 with no overtime while building a production facility for the Boeing 777X as part of the effort to bring construction of that airliner to St. Louis County.

Governor Jay Nixon has announced the agreement that includes the Building and Construction Trades Council, the Carpenters District Council of St. Louis and the Eastern Missouri Laborers District Council. The deal would double the number of work hours in a week, triple the workforce available and reduce construction time by at least a year, according to Nixon’s Office.

Nixon and state lawmakers have said construction time is of the essence for Boeing, who has already taken orders for more than 250 of the planes and is behind schedule filling those orders after a deal couldn’t be reached to build them in Washington State. That deal fell through when unions there rejected concessions on pensions.

“Everybody is well aware of what occurred in Washington,” Nixon says.

Nixon says to his knowledge, the agreements have been made by union leaders but union members have not taken a vote on them.

“I am confident [these union leaders] speak for the thousands of construction workers that they represent in this regard.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports a more crucial deal would be with the International Association of Machinists Local 837, which represents Boeing assembly line workers in St. Louis. It is a sister to the machinists union in Seattle that last month rejected a contract tied to the 777X plant that prompted Boeing to look for another state in which to build the airliners.

Filed Under: Business, News Tagged With: 777X, Boeing, Jay Nixon

SPECIAL SESSION: Nixon office releases cost-benefit estimates of Boeing proposal

December 3, 2013 By Mike Lear

If Boeing brings production of its 777X airliner to north St. Louis County, the incentives Governor Jay Nixon has proposed could add up to as much as $1.74-billion over 23 years, if the company reaches certain job creation thresholds.

Boeing's 777-9x

Boeing’s 777-9x

A cost-benefit analysis released by the Governor’s office shows the project would also generate up to $2.9-billion in tax revenue in the same period.

It estimates that if between 2018 and 2040 Boeing has directly created 2,000 jobs it would cost the state more than $435-million in incentives while yielding $264-million in net fiscal benefit. 4,000 jobs created would cost more than $870-million in incentives and yield $550-million in net benefit. 6,000 jobs would cost $1.3-billion in incentives with more than $831-million net benefit and 8,000 new Boeing jobs would cost $1.74-billion in incentives and generate nearly $1.1-billion in net financial benefit.

Nixon’s office believes even a single component of the Boeing 777X project would create more than 2,000 jobs. The estimates assume that by 2018 those jobs would offer an average annual wage of $95,000.

His proposal is to extend the caps on four programs by a combined $150-million per year. Both Nixon and legislative leaders say those programs’ incentives are tied to job creation, meaning nothing will be paid out if no jobs are created.

Senate and House committees will hold hearings on the proposal later today.  Lawmakers in both chambers had said a cost-benefit analysis is something they were waiting on as they considered Nixon’s proposal.

Filed Under: Business, News Tagged With: 777X, Boeing, Jay Nixon, Missouri House of Representatives, Missouri State Senate

SPECIAL SESSION: Boeing tight-lipped about what it wants in Missouri proposal to build 777x

December 2, 2013 By Jessica Machetta

Boeing is keeping its cards close to its vest in the negotiations for an assembly contract with the Boeing plant in St. Louis, the center of this week’s special legislative session called by Gov. Jay Nixon. So close, in fact, the company declined to go on tape or camera to discuss what it’s looking for in anchoring production of the 777x series.

Boeing 777-9X ArtworkA spokesman for Boeing’s commercial hub in Seattle, Wash., would say only that the company is looking closely at more than a dozen locations to assemble the 777x, but those locations are not being publicly identified. It’s not clear at this point if all of those dozen or more locations are in the United States.

It is clear Missouri is one of those locations, and that it would have preferred to keep production of the commercial aircraft in Washington.

“We approached the union in Seattle with a contract extension that would have secured the assembly, all composite wing, in Puget Sound,” Boeing spokesman Doug Alder tells Missourinet. “That contract extension was voted down.”

He says the 8-year contract extension would have made sense to both Boeing and its customers, who would have been assured a steady supply chain with no threat of a strike.

“Also, in our eyes, it would have been good for workers here,” he said. “It would have sustained thousands of local jobs here through 2022.

Alder says Boeing has a lot of attractive facilities, including the one in St. Louis, “but we’re also looking at all options, outside the company as well. In the end, we’re going to do what makes sense for us to make sure we stay competitive in the marketplace.”

Staying competitive means, among other things, staying ahead of Airbus, based in Blagnac, France.

Boeing 777-9X Artwork“We’re looking at our competition, namely Airbus, which is striving to take more and more of the market-share,” he said. “And unless we’re able to offer the best product at a price for our customers, then we’ll be in trouble.”

Alder says that means taking into consideration location, final assembly, work-force needs, supply chain, and more.

Boeing has put out a request for proposals, and Missouri will answer that call when legislators hammer out a deal on corporate tax breaks sometime this week. The deadline to submit a proposal is mid December. Boeing will then make a final decision around the first of the year.
Alder says Missouri could get the bid to produce all or some of the plane.

For instance, he said, if you look at the 737, the fuselage comes by rail from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington. The wings come from Japan.
The company has already promised more than 250 of the planes to four airlines, three of them in the Middle East.

Emirates Airlines, based in Dubai, has ordered 150 of the aircraft. Qatar Airlines and Etihad in Abu Dhabi have ordered 50 and 25 planes, respectively. Germany’s Lufthansa has committed to purchase 34.

Alder says Boeing expects the popularity of the 777x aircraft to grow in both foreign and domestic markets, noting they are designed for an eight-hour flight.

“You can get almost anywhere in the world in eight hours,” he said, “and the 777 is perfect for that.”

The going price per plane for a 777-8x, the smaller version, is $349 million. The 777-9x, which is larger, costs $377 million.

Boeing 777-9X Artwork

Photos courtesy of Boeing.

Filed Under: Business, Legislature, Transportation Tagged With: 777X, Boeing, special session, St. Louis

House Speaker on special session, Missouri’s chances of landing new Boeing airline assembly (AUDIO)

November 29, 2013 By Mike Lear

Missouri’s House Speaker says Governor Jay Nixon has submitted to the General Assembly a draft of legislation he wants it to consider in the special session he has called that will begin Monday. He has asked the legislature to approve raising caps on four economic development programs in an effort to get Boeing to build its next airliner in St. Louis County.

House Speaker Tim Jones (left) and Governor Jay Nixon.

House Speaker Tim Jones (left) and Governor Jay Nixon.

House Speaker Tim Jones (R-Eureka) says he and other lawmakers had asked Nixon to supply them with a blueprint to work with.

Jones tells Missourinet, “We told him that given the immediacy of the timeline, the short timeframe in which to consider this before the December 10 RFP deadline, the fact that he has been the one that has been in the direct negotiations with the Boeing upper management, that he is in the best position to lead on this issue and to describe to us how Missouri can be in the best place to be considered for this contract.”

Jones says he has only seen a draft of the proposal. He believes Nixon has agreed to meet with his caucus Monday afternoon before the special session begins.

“I need to have the Governor come and explain the entire opportunity to my caucus and why he needs this legislation in the first place,” Jones says.”

House Republicans were already scheduled to be at the Capitol Monday for a winter caucus.

The Governor has asked lawmakers to raise caps to allow for up to $150-million annually for large-scale aerospace projects under Missouri Works, Missouri Works training, Missouri BUILD and the Real Property Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act. Jones says under the Governor’s proposal, if Missouri is not awarded the new Boeing project, no state incentives or money would be awarded.

The special session begins Monday afternoon at 4 and Missouri must have a proposal ready for Boeing by December 10. Asked whether that is enough time for legislative action, Jones says, “Mathematically there is probably enough time. Logistically that is going to yet be determined.”

Often each chamber of the legislature will address an issue with its own version of a bill. Both of those could then go through the respective chambers’ committee processes and be passed out of each chamber before differences are hammered out between the two versions.

Jones says the only chance for success before December 10 will be for one chamber to start out with a bill.

“We have not decided which chamber that’s going to begin in yet. That’s a discussion we are still having with Senate leadership.”

Jones says he hasn’t read the Governor’s call for a special session to see whether it is too narrow for other issues to be introduced, but he doesn’t want anything else to be introduced.

“Given the extremely compressed timeframe of … we’re talking a total of less than 10 calendar days, which is far less business days … for an extremely important multi-billion dollar opportunity, I think we should stay focused on the task at hand and the call at hand,” Jones says. “However I understand that with 196 other legislators who will be participating in this process it is probably safe to say that some of those individuals will want to raise other issues.”

Jones says it will be up to leadership in each chamber whether to agree to allow work on other things, but he reiterates he wants to stick to the Boeing incentive issue.

He says the State of Washington lost the 777x project because of its tax and labor policies and conflicts between Boeing and labor unions there. He says Missouri’s own policies will factor into whether it lands the project.

“There are some states being considered that are right-to-work states or that have better relationships with their unions (than Washington). Other states that are being considered have better tax structures (than Washington) … We’re going to probably be in some pretty stiff competition with states that have good policies in those areas.”

Jones and other Republicans are questioning the Governor’s support of an incentive package to bring Boeing to Missouri after rejecting tax cut legislation that the General Assembly failed to override his veto of, in the veto session in September.

“Our Governor decided that he would veto a policy that would give a tax break to all Missouri families, farmers and small businesses. He didn’t feel that such a tax break was appropriate at that time so one of the questions that’s going to have to be answered is, ‘Why is a tax break for this project appropriate at this time?'”

Hear Mike Lear’s interview with Tim Jones (10:27):

http://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Tim-Jones.mp3

Filed Under: Legislature, News Tagged With: Boeing, economic development, Jay Nixon, Tim Jones

Nixon meeting with lawmakers regarding Boeing deal

November 27, 2013 By Mike Lear

Governor Jay Nixon says he will meet with legislators this afternoon to discuss whether Missouri will make a bid to build a new state-of-the-art Boeing plane, the 777X, in St. Louis, creating thousands of jobs.

Governor Nixon speaks to business and civic leaders in St. Louis.

Governor Nixon speaks to business and civic leaders in St. Louis.

Nixon tells reporters in St. Louis a tax incentive package is being discussed but he hasn’t said how big it might be or offered other details. He did not say whether a special session could be called to discuss the issue, but says developments will come in a matter of days and not weeks.

Below is the text of Nixon’s remarks to business and civic leaders at the Progress 64 West awards banquet:

As Governor, it always makes me proud to see Missourians come together to strengthen and improve their communities. And that’s what Progress 64 West is all about.

From the start, the highest priority of my administration has been to create good jobs for Missouri families and grow our economy.

Now, some of you might remember that in 2009 and 2010, that wasn’t the easiest of tasks.

When I took office, the global financial crisis had hit every state hard, and Missouri was no exception. Businesses were closing their doors, too many Missourians were losing their jobs and our once-proud auto industry was on the ropes.

But like Missourians always do, we didn’t give up. We didn’t panic or point fingers. Instead, we rolled up our sleeves, put together a plan and got to work.

First, we knew we had to build on a rock solid foundation of fiscal discipline. At a time when many other states, not to mention Washington D.C., were undertaking risky fiscal experiments or going into debt, here in Missouri we took a different approach.

Since taking office, I’ve cut $1.8 billion in spending and eliminated 4,500 government positions. The state workforce is now the smallest it’s been in two decades.

By making government smarter and more efficient we were able to balance the budget each year without raising taxes. In fact, we’ve cut taxes in targeted, strategic ways designed to spur growth and create jobs.

Today, Missouri has the 5th lowest taxes per capita in the nation and our perfect Triple-A credit rating has been reaffirmed by all three major ratings agencies.

Second, with thousands of jobs on the line, knew we had to stop the bleeding from our auto manufacturing sector and start building the vehicles of the future in the Show-Me State.

That’s why, on my very first day in office, I established an Automotive Jobs Task Force.

We upped our state’s investment in worker training, I travelled to Detroit to meet with the leaders of America’s leading auto manufacturers, and in the summer of 2010 I called the General Assembly into a special session, where Republicans and Democrats worked together to pass a package of targeted incentives to bring our auto industry back to life.

And it worked.

Today, Missouri’s auto industry is making a comeback.

In 2011, Ford and General Motors announced plans to invest a combined $1.5 billion and create more than three thousand jobs to build all-new vehicles at their facilities in the Show-Me State. This year, they’re putting even more Missourians to work, with an additional stamping press in Wentzville and a third shift of F-150 production in Claycomo.

Global auto suppliers in every corner of our state, including Toyota Bodine up in Troy, Henniges Automotive in New Haven and TG Missouri down in Perryville, have followed suit.

All this growth led CNN Money to report last year: “Move over, Detroit, the big guns of manufacturing have turned sweet on Missouri.”

Finally, we needed a long-term plan for competing and wining in the global economy.

Our Strategic Initiative for Economic Growth solicited input from more than 600 leaders in business, labor, education and economic development.

The result was a blueprint to build an economy ready to meet the challenges of the 21st century, and fostering a highly skilled workforce was its number one recommendation.

Nothing will have a greater impact on the future of our economy than the commitment we make now to education.

That’s why we’re taking a comprehensive approach.

By expanding access to early childhood education, we’re making sure more children are ready to learn in school and succeed in life.

We’ve increased funding and raised our standards for our K-12 schools. With strong support and high expectations, we’ve seen reading scores go up, math scores go up and Missouri’s high school graduation rate is now in the top 10 in the nation.

With strategic investments in higher education and worker training, we’ve prepared thousands of additional students for careers in growing fields like health care and advanced manufacturing. In fact, when it comes to minimizing tuition increases at our four-year institutions, Missouri is number one in the nation over the past 5 years.

Finally, just this past week I announced our plan to make sure our Bright Flight scholarship program lives up to its original mission by giving it a long overdue tune up. Under my budget proposal, these high-achieving students will have the option of taking an additional $5,000 per year, tripling the current scholarship amount.

The only condition is that they have to stay and work here in Missouri after they graduate. Otherwise, they’ll have to pay it back.

Investing in our human capital is quite simply the best economic development tool there is.

Another one of the Strategic Initiative’s recommendations was to update our alphabet soup of economic development and worker training programs to make them more efficient, effective and responsive to the needs of high-growth industries. And that is exactly what we did. It’s called ‘Missouri Works’ and it took effect this year.

Missouri Works consolidates and modernizes Missouri’s incentives into a single, business-friendly program with a single set of definitions and a streamlined application process, making these programs easier to use and easier to understand.

I want to thank Progress 64 West for your support of this plan to sharpen our economic development tools, as well as Acting Director Mike Downing and his team at the Missouri Department of Economic Development for helping to implement it.

Now, none of these proven, fiscally responsible policies work on their own, but together they have a big impact on our state and this region.

Missouri has been ranked as one of the Top 10 states for business for the fourth year in a row.

Last year, we outpaced states like California and New York with the third-fastest rate of tech job growth in the nation.

And just last week, the monthly jobs report showed that Missouri’s unemployment rate had dropped to 6.5 percent, a five year low.

But don’t take it from me, or the number-crunchers, or the consultant. Take it from the autoworkers building next-generation vehicles in Wentzville and Claycomo, the new plant scientists being hired by the hundreds at Monsanto, or the construction workers building Reinsurance Group of America’s brand new four hundred thousand square-foot global headquarters here in Chesterfield.

By putting politics aside and focusing on the values we share, we’re giving real families, real jobs and real financial security. And we’re not done yet.

Right now, we’re at another important crossroads for this region and for our state.

The aerospace industry has long been part of the fabric of this region’s identity and economy. Our long tradition of excellence in aerospace spans from Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis, to McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing Defense.

For generations, workers here in Missouri have built the aircraft and weapons that have kept our world safe and our economy strong.

As a kid, I remember our family gathering around the television down in DeSoto to watch the launch of the Mercury space capsules. It was exhilarating to see astronauts exploring earth’s orbit in a capsule built by workers right up the road from us in St. Louis.

Today, their livelihoods, and the livelihoods of thousands of suppliers across our state, depend on a defense industry that is rapidly changing.

Just like the experts used to speculate that it wouldn’t be long before the last Missouri-made vehicle rolled off the line in Wentzville and Claycomo, deep cuts to defense budgets in Washington and recent setbacks with international orders have raised questions about whether there will be enough military production to sustain aerospace manufacturing in St. Louis.

It’s a new reality in which we must compete. And to win, we must work to diversify our aerospace industry to make sure what’s built in St. Louis not only flies over hostile territory overseas, but also in friendlier skies here in America and around the world.

Today, we have a historic opportunity to do just that. I’m talking about the Boeing 777X.

The Boeing 777X. will be the largest and most efficient twin-engine jet in the world, and demand for this state-of-the-art aircraft is already unprecedented.

At its recent debut at the Dubai Air Show, Boeing took orders for this plane exceeding 100 billion dollars. To put that in context, its competitors at Airbus took in less than half that amount.

And since Boeing’s proposal was rejected by workers in Seattle, the company is moving very quickly to select a new location for production of this next-generation aircraft,and it’s no surprise that Missouri is high on their list.

On our rails, on our roads, and on our runways, Missouri makes what moves the world. And when it comes to game-changing manufacturing projects, it doesn’t get much bigger than this.

Winning production of the 777X would put Missouri in the commercial aircraft manufacturing business in a big way. It would create thousands of career-supporting jobs for Missouri workers, open new opportunities for suppliers in every corner of our state, and build a bridge over the uncertain waters we see ahead, to a brighter more secure future for Missouri’s entire aerospace industry, commercial and defense.

In short, this is a huge, transformative project and we’re going to compete for all of it.

Last week, I had an extremely productive meeting with high-level Boeing executives from around the country.

The very next day we received an RFP, and since then our team has been working around the clock to put forward an aggressive response in a very short time frame.

It’s clear that the Show-Me State comes to the table with significant advantages. And when we compete in Missouri, we compete to win.

We have an outstanding workforce, including thousands of skilled machinists here in the St. Louis region.

We have well-developed worker training programs and a strong system of community colleges, something we know is vital in an industry with no room for error.

We have a stable business climate and a AAA rating from all three major rating agencies, providing just the kind of predictability companies like Boeing need in order to make massive, long-term investments.

We have a proven record of working together across party lines to bring next-generation production lines to our state.

And finally, we have a longstanding relationship with Boeing that’s stronger than ever. In fact, this past June, I met with Boeing’s President and CEO James McNerney at the Paris Air Show and announced that the company would bring a new IT center and hundreds of new jobs to St. Louis.

As Governor, I am committed to capitalizing on these strengths and seizing this historic opportunity to open a new chapter for Missouri’s aerospace industry and our state, while honoring our proud past of aviation excellence by building a future that’s even brighter.

Regardless of the outcome of this project, it’s clear that Missouri is on the right track, and it’s no accident. It’s the result of the stable business climate we have fostered, the outstanding workforce in which we’ve invested and the tireless efforts of people like those gathered in this room today.

Moving forward we will continue to work to find common ground for the common good, and tackle the big challenges together.

Providing good jobs for Missourians. Quality schools for our kids. And a competitive and predictable climate for your businesses to grow and invest.

I thank you for your continued leadership on behalf of the people of this region, and our entire state and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today.

Thank you.

Filed Under: Business, Legislature, News Tagged With: 777X, Boeing, Jay Nixon



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