In Kinston, N.C., Bruce Parson isn’t discouraged by Friday’s news reports that the people in the 7E7 program believe Everett is the best choice for its assembly plant.
Parson, president of the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, wasn’t "weeping or celebrating," noting that Boeing hasn’t announced anything official about its favored site.
"Our reaction basically is wait and see," Parson said by phone Friday afternoon. "When Boeing comes out and says it will be in Kinston or it will be in Everett, we’ll take that as our cue."
Kinston is among a number of communities around the country, including Everett and Moses Lake, that Boeing is said to be considering for a new assembly plant.
The Free Press of Kinston reported in October that Boeing representatives took a follow-up tour of the proposed site there in late September. The site, the Global TransPark business park, has nearly 5,800 acres ready for development, a runway that’s 11,500 feet long, and direct rail and highway connections to ports on the Atlantic Coast.
The site opened in 1996 as a global cargo complex, but seven years later it has only 200 private-sector employees, according to local newspaper reports.
Parson added that Kinston’s rural character — Lenoir County is home to just 60,000 residents — means a high quality of life and low cost of living. The county’s median income is $31,000. Other manufacturers already in that area include DuPont, Electrolux and Lenox China.
North Carolina may be about to sweeten the pot for Boeing. Gov. Mike Easley has called a special legislative session next week to consider incentive and tax break proposals to spark the state’s economy. Washington state has offered Boeing a $3.2 billion incentive package.
Linda Weiner, spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Commerce, which is heading up the Boeing recruitment effort, declined to say whether the proposals might specifically benefit the aerospace company.
"They will be considering economic development measures for several potential projects. But they would be applicable to any other industries that meet the same requirements," she said.
As to Friday’s report that Everett is the desired site among 7E7 executives, Weiner said state officials were not commenting on it. But Parson said he thinks North Carolina still has as good a chance as any of the two dozen or more states wooing Boeing.
"We want to have them here," he said, "but we respect that it’s their decision."
Other states weren’t conceding the race, either.
"We haven’t been notified of any decision by Boeing, and still understand the assumption that we will hear something around Dec. 15," Robert Black, a spokesman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, told the Associated Press.
"We’re hopeful that they will end up in Texas, and our efforts will continue toward that end. … As far as we know, there’s still some time to talk."
Paul Sund, a spokesman for Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry, told AP that Boeing contacted the state on Friday to assure them site evaluations are continuing.
"Oklahoma is still very much in the hunt, and we’re doing everything we can do to land on top," he said.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
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