North Carolina makes pitch for Boeing plant; 7K jobs
http://hamptonroads.com/2014/02/north-carolina-makes-pitch-boeing-plant-7k-jobs
North Carolina makes pitch for Boeing plant; 7K jobs
By Emery P. Dalesio
The Associated Press
© February 6, 2014
RALEIGH, N.C.
Assembling one of the largest package of tax breaks and other incentives in North Carolina history earned the state consideration for as many as 7,250 Boeing aircraft manufacturing jobs but its $683 million offer was dwarfed by Washington state's winning promise of nearly $9 billion in corporate sweeteners.
North Carolina and about 20 other states offered lavish tax breaks, free land and other enticements to land the thousands of jobs needed to build the 777X, a jet designed to be more fuel efficient than Boeing's strong-selling 777 airliner.
Missouri offered up to $1.7 billion over more than two decades. North Carolina, Kansas, Utah, South Carolina and Texas stressed their laws limiting union membership.
North Carolina's pitch which would have been boosted by local offers was more than double the largest the state has dangled and successfully landed an employer. Dell Inc. was offered more than $300 million in state and local incentives in 2004 to open a computer assembly plant near Winston-Salem. Most state incentives were never paid, and Dell repaid local governments $26 million in upfront spending after the plant closed in 2010.