Political and business dignitaries broke ground Tuesday on Boeing’s composite plant, which will help create parts for its 777X commercial aircraft.
It’s a consolation prize of sorts for Missouri after the state made a furious dash to get the entire aircraft built in the Show Me State – an effort that was ultimately unsuccessful.
Boeing’s 367,000-square-foot facility, on its existing campus near Lambert Field, will create around 700 jobs. It marks the first time Boeing brought its commercial production to the St. Louis area, which is home to some of the company’s defense products.
Gov. Jay Nixon said that Missouri has “built a legacy in the aerospace and defense industry.” The advent of commercial airplane production, he said, “begins a new chapter.”
“This project will place St. Louis on the vanguard of next generation commercial aviation technology – and make no mistake, that technology is moving and moving quickly,” Nixon said. “And it takes the skilled workforce we have here, as well as significant investment by Boeing and the competitive nature of everybody in the Show Me State, to be where we are today.”
In addition to local and state legislative leaders, U.S. Reps. Lacy Clay, D-University City, and Ann Wagner, D-Ballwin joined Nixon. Clay said the 777X “will add hundreds of more jobs that will mean a more skilled, secure future for this site.”
“By placing this important production facility in St. Louis, Boeing continues to lead the way with innovation, optimizing resources, skilled manufacturing and world’s most advanced technology,” Clay said. “And with the help of my colleagues and the leadership team here at Boeing, we will build up that success and continue that progress.”
Wagner added that “having our aviation manufacturing base in St. Louis is critical to establishing Missouri as a leader in innovation and technology.”
“It is truly an investment in the area by bringing these jobs to the Show Me State and bringing what I call the multiplier effect of all the manufacturing and all the construction and all the suppliers that will feed into this marvelous, marvelous 777X opportunity that we have here.”
During a special session last year, the Missouri General approved incentives to get the 777X to Missouri. Nixon said that Boeing would end up taking advantage of those tax breaks to expand its footprint in St. Louis.
“We worked hard in the session in a bipartisan way to pass it,” Nixon said. “Today’s another example of how it’s a good, solid investment.”
Defends Ferguson decision-making
Meanwhile, Nixon defended his decision-making after a grand jury decided not to indict Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson.
Nixon has faced harsh criticism from both parties for not quickly deploying the National Guard to parts of Ferguson. For instance, some pilloried Nixon for not having guardsmen on West Florissant Avenue, which saw the lion’s share of looting and arson after Wilson wasn’t indicted.
A legislative committee is planning to look into Nixon’s decision-making. While Nixon said he would cooperate with that committee, Nixon defended his actions the night of the grand jury decision.
As Nixon first said the day after the grand jury decision, the plan was to keep National Guardsmen at “static” locations – like police departments and utility equipment. He added: “After that first night when things were clearly more kinetic than we’d hoped and we had some property damage, then we shifted and closed some zones that were different on the second night.”
Nixon emphasized that “while we had the difficult challenge of some property loss, we did not suffer the loss of life of either a law enforcement officer, a National Guardsman or a citizen.”
“And quite frankly, that is how all of this got started – a loss of a life,” Nixon said. “And the fact that our guiding principle was to move through this while allowing speech, but protecting people’s safety. Certainly we were not happy or sanguine with the fact that we had some property damage. But when you compare what the risks were and what came through that, I think history will say that the proper goals were in place.”
Nixon’s comments come as the state of emergency around the St. Louis region comes to an end. When asked if he let that order run its course, Nixon said, “We’ll look at where things are.”
“Certainly we’re seeing a winding down of the necessity of that, but I’ll wait a few hours,” Nixon said. “It’s on my list when I get back to look at.”
