EVERETT – Goodrich Corp. will break ground next week on a 140,000-square-foot building in south Everett, where it will prepare engine covers for the Boeing Co.’s new 787 airliner.
The new plant, at 2615 94th St. SW, will employ about 80 people, a Goodrich spokeswoman said.
The new plant is “great news for everybody – for the state, for the region,” said Deborah Knutson, Snohomish County Economic Development Council president.
Goodrich plans a formal groundbreaking ceremony with local officials on Tuesday, and expects the new plant to open in the fall.
Goodrich is building the engine covers, called nacelles, and the thrust reversers for the new Dreamliner. Thrust reversers help slow airplanes once they’ve landed by redirecting the force of the engines toward the front of the plane.
At the new plant, workers will place the nacelles and cowlings onto the engines, which will be built by General Electric and Rolls-Royce.
Goodrich then will take the “dressed” engines and “roll them across the street to Boeing,” said Gail Warner, a spokeswoman at the corporation’s headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.
Being close to Boeing is important to Goodrich’s plan to support development of the 787, Warner said.
“It means something to be right next door,” she said. “It’s all about efficiency.”
Goodrich and Boeing have a long history of working together, said Lori Gunter, a spokeswoman with Boeing’s 787 program in Everett. “It’s great to have them continue as a neighbor.”
Goodrich already has more than 1,400 workers at two facilities in Everett. Along with its Paine Field jet maintenance facility, which is among the largest in North America, the corporation also employs 30 people who assemble landing gears for Boeing jets.
The new nacelle plant will be on 9.4 acres Goodrich is leasing from Snohomish County adjacent to the landing gear assembly plant. Goodrich will own the building, which will be about three times the size of the landing gear facility.
County officials weren’t able to provide details about the lease on Friday.
Knutson said her organization and county government officials spent most of the past year working with Goodrich to find a suitable location. “It’s nice when the payoff happens,” she said.
It helped that Goodrich “already had the facilities here,” Knutson said. “That was a draw.”
Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon said Goodrich is a “great example of the partnership between the county and the EDC.”
Snohomish County has streamlined its building permit process to make it more business-friendly, Reardon said. Goodrich’s decision “proves that our economic development plan is working.”
The building permit should be issued next week, county spokeswoman Donna Ambrose said.
Goodrich also will benefit from the state’s business and occupation tax break for aerospace businesses, which took effect in the fall, Knutson said.
The state House of Representatives voted Thursday to extend those tax breaks – which had been limited to aerospace parts manufacturers – to companies that do engineering and design work on aircraft parts and tooling.
Goodrich is the largest 787 supplier to announce plans to move to Everett to work on the new Boeing plane.
In January, German company Drager Aerospace announced it was close to signing a lease for a 20,000-square-foot building where it will assemble passenger ventilation and lighting systems for the 787. Last year, 787 supplier Messier-Buggatti moved from its previous Everett site into a new 25,000-square-foot plant on 75th Street SW.
Goodrich is one of Boeing’s major 787 suppliers. Along with the nacelles and thrust reversers, the company will provide the new jet’s cargo handling system, wheels and brakes, exterior lights, proximity sensors, and the fuel gauges and software to manage them.
“We’re glad they’re expanding their presence here,” Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said. “It’s a great time to be in the aerospace business, and what they do for our community is great.”
Reporter Bryan Corliss: 425-339-3454 or corliss@heraldnet.com.
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