EVERETT — State officials are scouting south Everett for a place to locate a 40,000-square-foot school where workers can be trained to assemble the Boeing Co.’s new 7E7 jetliner.
The center, which will be funded by the state, was a key part of Washington’s bid to convince Boeing to assemble its proposed jet here, two officials who headed the effort said Thursday.
Washington has an experienced aerospace workforce, said Martha Choe, who last year headed the state’s Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.
Other states offered cheaper labor, but Washington countered with higher quality, she said. "Our pitch was you get what you pay for."
Choe now is coordinator of the state’s 7E7 project team, which is working with Boeing as it prepares to build the new jet. She and Robin Pollard, the state’s 7E7 project manager, met with The Herald’s editorial board on Thursday.
Under the state’s agreement with Boeing, the new training center is to open by December 2005, Choe and Pollard said.
Many of the details about the center aren’t known yet. Choe said Boeing still is revising some of its training requirements, but recently released pages from the state’s agreement with Boeing provide some outline.
The center is being called the Employment Resource Center. The state will spend up to $10 million on the building and its equipment. The center will have a capacity for about 300 students at a time and be able to operate around-the-clock.
It will have at least four classrooms, each with a capacity of 50 students; office space; and a bay with 35-foot ceilings where Boeing can set up a mock assembly line to teach workers specific procedures.
The center also must be within a 10-minute drive of Boeing’s Dreamliner final assembly site.
The assumption is that it will be within Boeing’s massive Everett factory building, Choe said, but the company has not confirmed that.
Boeing and its suppliers will have exclusive use of the training center for five years, while the state pays for its operation. After that, it will revert to state ownership.
Given that, Choe said, state officials are looking for sites outside the Boeing gates that would be more accessible to students in the future.
Boeing is working with a number of state workforce training agencies to set up the center, Choe said.
It’s a complicated process, she said. "Boeing’s such a large company. They’ve got so many relationships with different community colleges."
The details in the document have changed since it was signed by Gov. Gary Locke and Boeing 7E7 program chief Mike Bair in December, Choe added.
For example, a proposal to create a two-year aerospace manufacturing degree program at the state’s community colleges "may or may not happen," she said.
"A lot of it was our best thinking in December that continues to evolve," she said. "It really is changing on a day-to-day basis."
Choe and her former agency have come under fire for not releasing more of the documents relating to the 7E7 deal more quickly.
The Evergreen Freedom Foundation has sued under the state Public Records Act to get access to portions of the document that were initially withheld at Boeing’s request to protect what the company said were trade secrets.
Much of the information about the Employment Resource Center was removed from documents originally released by the state.
Foundation director Bob Williams said Wednesday that he feels his conservative think tank has been given the runaround by state officials.
When it comes to the training program, "It seems Boeing officials and the governor want taxpayers to sign a blank check," Williams said.
Choe denied the assertion that the state has stonewalled public records requests.
Boeing initially was sensitive about the details of the training center, she said. Since then, the company has agreed to the release of more details, Choe said.
"We have not only met the spirit (of the public records law), but the intent," she said. "To say we’re frustrated with (the Evergreen Freedom Foundation) is an understatement."
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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