HUNTSVILLE – The collective feeling is kind of like the third act of a thriller flick… Governmental leaders and those who are looking for jobs alike are sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the story’s climax.
Boeing 777x
Will Huntsville land the $7-billion Boeing 777X assembly plant, or will the prize, promising thousands of new jobs, meander to another city?
On Friday, Boeing announced that it had shortened the list of cities which were still in the running for the prize. Although the company did not elucidate, several cities announced that they had indeed been cut from the running. Jake Keys, of Greensboro, North Carolina said Boeing told the city it was no longer in the running. Charlotte and Kinston also did not make the list.
Missouri, which already featured over 15-thousand Boeing jobs near St. Louis, is apparently on, or near the cutting line. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s office declined to comment on whether Missouri was still in the running.
Huntsville International Airport’s runway 36-Right is 12,600 feet long
So that leaves Huntsville, already a city with a large number of Boeing jobs, squarely in the running. Boeing needs a site adjacent to an airport with a 9,000-foot runway to launch the planes, as well as easy access to a major highway and rail lines for parts deliveries. The company says access to a seaport that can handle container ships is a “desired” feature of its ideal site.
Clearly, Huntsville fits the criteria, a City spokesman, who asked for anonymity, tole The Quad-Cities Daily. Cities in South Carolina, Georgia, Utah and California, in addition to Huntsville, are still in the running. Boeing has had a presence in Huntsville for many years and already owns 300 acres of land at Huntsville International Airport. That site is big enough to hold the facility.
Boeing’s Everett, Washington Assembly Plant builds an earlier version of the 777x
The 777X project would bring tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity to any state that wins the new assembly line. That allows Boeing to demand big concessions from the competitors.
The company is expected to announce the winning city early in 2014.
