Momentum grew on Friday for a big push to lure Boeing Co.’s 777X assembly plant to St. Louis, but no one’s sure quite yet what form that push will take.
A key state senator said he would support state tax breaks for the plant, which could create thousands of jobs, through a special session if necessary. Meanwhile a union leader at Boeing’s St. Louis operation said his members would be open to talking with the company about a deal, despite a sister local in Seattle rejecting a contract for the work last week.
The talk came a day after Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon sat down with Boeing executives to pitch St. Louis as a site for assembly of its new 777X commercial jet. The company is shopping for locations after its Seattle-based Machinists union last week rejected contract concessions, including sharp pension cuts. It is drawing eager suitors from coast to coast.
Nixon touted St. Louis’ experienced aerospace workforce and long ties with Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. But winning the plant would probably also require financial incentives — Washington state was prepared to offer $8.5 billion in tax breaks over 15 years — that dwarf any of Missouri’s current programs.
A spokesman for the governor would not discuss what particular subsidies the state might offer, but several people familiar with the talks said the size of the package, and Boeing’s quick timetable — it wants to pick a site within three months; the Legislature reconvenes Jan. 8 — would be likely to require a special session of the legislature.
That would be OK with Senate Majority Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin. Richard said Friday that, while he has heard no details of a plan from Nixon’s office yet, he thinks a deal the magnitude of a new Boeing plant would be worth calling back lawmakers for.
“I’m not opposed to it,” he said. “It would be an extraordinary effort. But special sessions are for extraordinary situations.”
House Majority Leader John Diehl said he, too, would be open to a big package to land Boeing.
“Anytime you have the opportunity to significantly expand the operations of a company like that, you need to look at that seriously,” Diehl said.
Though it doesn’t happen often, Missouri lawmakers have passed tax breaks to lure a specific, big, employer before. In 2008, they authorized a $240 million package for Bombardier Aerospace, but the company chose to build a plant in Canada instead. Two years later, Nixon called a special session to pass $150 million in tax credits to help a Ford assembly line near Kansas City. The credits later also helped General Motors upgrade its Wentzville van plant.
But subsidies are only part of the package.
Several analysts have knocked St. Louis’ chances of winning the plant because Boeing assembly line workers here are represented by the same International Association of Machinists whose members voted down last week pension cuts to build the 777X in Seattle.
But Seattle and St. Louis have different locals and different contracts. And Gordon King, president of the IAM Local 837 in Hazelwood, said Friday that his 2,500 members were willing to deal.
“We like to turn no work away,” he said. “We’re always interested in work. We’re interested in seeing what a package might contain.”
King said he had not yet spoken with Boeing about any potential contract. Even if the company chose to do final assembly somewhere else, getting major components built in St. Louis would be a big win.
“We’re open to jobs,” he said. “It could be anywhere from 1,500 to 5,000, depending on what they decide to do.”
Even if local leaders coalesce behind an effort to land Boeing, St. Louis is far from the only contender for the work. Governors and economic development officials from California to South Carolina to Alabama to Utah are working to woo what industry-watchers call the biggest prize in aerospace manufacturing in a long time. All are likely to offer big tax breaks. Some give Boeing the added flexibility of a right-to-work state. A few have more experience building big, composite-based commercial airplanes, which are quite different from the smaller, metal fighter jets Boeing assembles here.
The company has said little about its criteria, though some details may emerge in a request for proposals that’s expected to be issued any day. In the meantime, most outside experts give St. Louis long odds.
“I’d say the chances are somewhere between zero and none,” said Richard Aboulafia, a veteran aerospace analyst with The Teal Group near Washington. He still expects Boeing to wind up building the 777X in Seattle, and if not, to go somewhere with an ocean port and more commercial experience. Maybe South Carolina. Perhaps Long Beach, Calif. Despite its deep Boeing ties, he said, St. Louis has a tough sell.
“I just don’t see the draw,” Aboulafia said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
