The competition among potential sites for a massive new Boeing plant will come to a head on Tuesday when states are required to submit proposals, including site details and incentive packages.
When Yellowhammer spoke with Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield on Sunday, he was unwilling to share any specific details on Boeing’s request for proposal (RFP), noting that they were bound by a non-disclosure agreement.
Apparently other states weren’t willing to be as discreet. Documents obtained by the Charlotte Observer and re-printed by the Seattle Times lay out in great detail what was contained in Boeing’s RFP. Both North Carolina and Washington are among the states vying for Boeing’s attention.
The site specifications being sought by Boeing are as super-sized as the jets they will ultimately be building.
One of the top logistics challenges, for instance, will be transporting the 777X’s wings, which are 114 long and 23 feet across.
Boeing’s mockup of a site prototype includes a taxiway with “LCF capability.” LCF refers to Boeing’s 474-400 Large Cargo Freighter. It is frequently used by Boeing to transport sections of aircraft around the world.
Boeing’s building requirements are even more enormous.
Boeing is looking for over 4 million square feet of space. The “main building” will be roughly 12 stories tall with 90-foot ceilings. In total, Boeing estimates it will need roughly $6 billion in property improvements and as much as $4 billion in equipment.
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But here’s where things get really interesting.
Boeing documents state that their preference will be “toward a location that will share in the cost of capital expenditures including acquiring site, constructing facility, building infrastructure and procuring equipment/tooling.”
In other words, Boeing is looking for a site that is willing to take care of a lot of their up-front costs for them.
Here are some of the “desired incentives” being sought by the company, according to the Seattle Times:
• An airport with a 9,000-foot runway capable of handling both the 777X and 747-400 jumbo freighters that could deliver parts.
• Easy highway and road access to the site for delivering parts.
• Direct access to the site by rail, including a dedicated rail spur right into the site. This is described as “a critical requirement to support delivery and shipping of parts.”
• “Site at no cost, or very low cost, to project.”
• “Facilities at no cost, or significantly reduced cost.”
• “Infrastructure improvements provided by the location.”
Additional incentives it lists include:
• Assistance in recruiting, evaluating and training employees.
• A low tax structure, with “corporate income tax, franchise tax, property tax, sales/use tax, business license/gross receipts tax, and excise taxes to be significantly reduced.”
• “Accelerated permitting for site development, facility construction, and environmental permitting.”
Other factors that will be “significant” when Boeing makes its choice early next year include:
• Low overall cost of doing business, “including local wages, utility rates, logistics costs, real estate occupancy costs, construction costs, applicable tax structure obligations.”
• The quality, cost and productivity of the available workforce.
• Predictability of utilities pricing and government regulation.
Missouri’s state legislature has already approved an incentive package for Boeing valued at roughly $1.7 billion over 20-plus years. Other states, like Alabama, are keeping their proposals out of the pubic eye and away from rival states by crafting their plans through executive branch agencies.
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