Boeing gets support in contract bid

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Company seeks Air Force contract

SALT LAKE CITY -- Local government and business leaders are throwing their support behind Boeing Co. in the aerospace giant's bid to win a multi-billion dollar U.S. Air Force contract next year, saying it would add hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the Utah economy.

Chicago-based Boeing, which has more than 700 employees in the Salt Lake City area, is competing with a team composed of France-based European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., the parent company of Airbus, and Northrop Grumman Corp., based in Los Angeles, for a contract to produce fuel tanker planes for the Air Force.

The multiyear contract is estimated to be worth at least $25 billion, and as much as $100 billion.

At a Thursday meeting, officials highlighted potential benefits to Utah if Boeing gets the work, while voicing concerns about the potential consequences of awarding a major military contract to a foreign firm.

Lane Beattie, president and chief executive of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, said a Boeing win would mean 44,000 jobs for the U.S., including 600 jobs and roughly $22 million in economic impact to Utah.

"Not awarding this to a domestic firm would mean tens of thousands of jobs or more may move overseas," Beattie said. "It would harm national security and the readiness of our military, and would take critical jobs away from American manufacturing workers."

The EADS-Northrop Grumman team has said it will build an assembly plant in Alabama if it wins the contract. Northrop Grumman's Utah operations are primarily focused on missile defense programs.

Ron Kusina, executive director of Weber Economic Development Corp., said the type of jobs at stake is exactly what Northern Utah needs.

"It's not just about jobs. It's about the high-paying, technical jobs we need for the future," Kusina said. "We have incredible training resources here to prepare people for these kinds of opportunities, and it would be a shame to send these jobs overseas and not utilize that training."

While the tanker production would not be based in Utah regardless of who gets the contract, a win for Boeing would benefit numerous local suppliers, he said.

Some Top of Utah companies that have benefited from Boeing's presence in the state include ATK, Petersen Inc., Parker-Hannifin Corp., GSC Foundries and Metric Precision Machine, Beattie said.

State Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, said sending the jobs overseas would limit U.S. oversight and control of the production process.

It would also take away a golden opportunity for economically-challenged Ogden to gain high-paying jobs, Hansen said.

"We have a lot to gain from a domestic firm getting this contract, and a lot to lose if EADS receives it."

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