Phillips: Boeing should locate “supersite” in Puget Sound Region

March 14, 2011

Summary

Region has all the components of a successful production site for Boeing’s aircraft of the future

Story

Metropolitan King County Councilmember Larry Phillips, Chair of the Council’s Transportation, Economy, and Environment Committee, today released the following statement about The Boeing Company’s search for a “supersite” to base production and assembly of its next new airplane.

“The Puget Sound region and Washington state face the biggest opportunity and challenge since Boeing chose the production site for its 787 Dreamliner. It is critical that we invest in our public infrastructure and do all that we can to convince Boeing to locate their ‘supersite’ for their next generation plane in our backyard. This would be a major boost to our economy just when we most need it. The ‘supersite’ would create a large cluster of aerospace suppliers that will serve our region and state for many decades to come.

“Twice before, our region and state have been able to pull together to convince Boeing that the Puget Sound Region is the best place to build their planes. The first was in 1928 when King County voters approved a $1 million bond measure by 86 percent to construct Boeing Field in order to keep the airplane company here when it was considering a move to California. The second critical decision was when public and private leaders put together a state-wide team to make a compelling case for Boeing to build the Dreamliner in Washington.

“These decisions have helped stabilize our state and regional economic base and kept many thousands of high-wage, high-education jobs here. This knowledge base has also led to the rise of many successful high-tech start up firms in King County that employ thousands.

“We already have many of the pieces in place, such as an educated workforce, good technical schools, community colleges, and four-year educational institutions. We have also invested more than $1 billion to build Brightwater and handle the region’s wastewater treatment well into the future. However, there is more to do. I call on other public and private officials to again create a statewide task force to develop our proposal for the Boeing Company. We cannot wait and hope. We must act now.”