The main attraction of Rockford in its bid to land Chicago-based Boeing’s 777X production plant wasn’t money and tax breaks, but the location and workforce that the city had to offer, according to Dave Roeder, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune / August 22, 2013)
By Gregory Karp, Tribune reporter
January 9, 2014
Boeing Co.'s production plant for its new 777X aircraft had a shot at being located in Illinois, specifically in Rockford, a little-known aerospace hotbed.
But Rockford's scrambling efforts during the Christmas holiday to land the Boeing plant came to an abrupt halt over the weekend after it was announced that the aerospace giant reached a labor deal with its Machinists union in the Seattle area and would be making the plane there instead.
Fifty-four sites in 22 states were proposed to Chicago-based Boeing. A pitch to locate the airplane factory at the Rockford airport was successful in placing the blue-collar Illinois town among a handful of sites selected by Boeing as potential locations, an Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
"The Rockford area was one of five finalists that Boeing chose to continue talks with," said state Commerce Department spokesman Dave Roeder.
The main attraction wasn't money and tax breaks, but the location and workforce that Rockford had to offer, he said.
"It never got to a dollars-and-cents discussion with them," Roeder said. "This was not an incentive-led offer. We didn't have to throw a bunch of money on the table to be a finalist."
The Boeing production plant promised thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic benefit to the winning state. It became a nationwide bidding war when Boeing was unable to reach an agreement with its largest union and threatened to move production from the Seattle area.
But production of the newest version of the Boeing 777 aircraft will remain in Washington state, where the current version is made. That's because the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers on Friday narrowly voted to approve a new labor contract, effectively ending the search for a site elsewhere, including Rockford.
The site offered in Rockford was on 400 acres, more than the 300 acres Boeing requested. And Boeing needed an airport with a long-enough runway, which the Chicago Rockford International Airport has, Roeder said. The site also has the required rail and highway access.
"It really bowled them over," Roeder said of the reaction of Boeing officials to the Rockford proposal. He noted that Illinois was not even a state that Boeing invited to bid on the plant. "We called Boeing and invited ourselves into the process," he said.
Roeder said Rockford officials "stepped up big" in quickly submitting a proposal to Boeing.
The Rockford area is the site of numerous Boeing suppliers and home to many aerospace companies, including UTC Aerospace Systems, Woodward Inc. and B/E Aerospace.
Economic development officials estimate there is a cluster of about 100 businesses in the Rockford region related to aerospace and aviation, and 6,500 workers, making it the sixth-highest concentration of aerospace production employment in the United States. Rockford accounts for 80 percent of aerospace employment in Illinois, officials say.
Two days before Christmas, Rockford-area economic development officials learned they had to prepare for a visit by Boeing officials Dec. 30, which went well, said Eric Voyles, vice president of national business development at the Rockford Area Economic Development Council.
They talked about workforce availability and training, and how many Boeing suppliers exist in Rockford. By his count, about 800 facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin serve Boeing, Voyles said.
"The fact is, their supply chain is here," he said.
Voyles said he was not disappointed that the union vote short-circuited Rockford's plan for landing Boeing.
"Heck, no; I had some of the top aerospace management in the world in my community, and their eyes were opened," he said. "It says we're heading down the right path."
Amy Ott, deputy director of the Greater Rockford Airport Authority, said the scramble to lure Boeing was a great opportunity.
"We look forward to the next time," she said.
Many Boeing union workers are not happy with the result of Friday's labor contract vote, and at least two have filed complaints against the union with the National Labor Relations Board.
Illinois offered an incentive package to Boeing, but the state Commerce Department isn't releasing details, citing a confidentiality agreement. The state must still abide by that agreement, because challenges to the Machinists union vote means Boeing's decision to stay in Washington is not technically a done deal, Roeder said.
A Boeing spokesman said the company is not identifying bidders.
gkarp@tribune.com