Boeing CEO visits Charleston, talks growth

Boeing CEO Jim McNerney paid a visit to the Lowcountry today to thank the region for supporting his North Charleston 787 Dreamliner plant and offer hints at future growth here.

McNerney was the headliner at U.S. Rep. Tim Scott’s “Revitalizing America: Carolina Strong,” a sort of business pep rally held at the College of Charleston’s Stern Student Center.

Scott, who said he planned the event around McNerney’s schedule, asked the aerospace executive about the prospects of Boeing South Carolina growing its operation even larger.

McNerney said the focus has to be on “making this factory globally competitive.”

“And it is getting there more quickly than we thought, to be honest with you,” he said.

“And so I think growth will come here as Boeing grows because this is the growth engine of the Boeing Company. This is the flagship of our wide-body airplane business,” McNerney said, referring to the Chicago-based company’s most profitable segment.

“This is the growth prospect for the next 20 years,” he continued. “So I think given good execution and fulfilling the promise that I see now, I see steady growth. Now, exactly when that happens and the form that it happens in, we’ll see. But I think there’s a good growth pattern.”

Read more later at postandcourier.com and in Tuesday’s editions of The Post and Courier.

Reach Brendan Kearney at 937-5906 and follow him on Twitter at @kearney_brendan.