Boeing is Sanford's win, too

There's plenty of credit to go around for Boeing's decision to vastly expand its operation in North Charleston by putting a 787 Dreamliner manufacturing plant here, and for the thousands of jobs it will bring. The role of leading legislators has been extensively detailed.

But Boeing's move is a big win for the executive branch, too, and that includes Commerce Secretary Joe Taylor and his staff.

It also includes their boss, Gov. Mark Sanford.

Mr. Taylor works for Gov. Sanford, and his agency is in the governor's Cabinet. Its focus is economic development and it sets the groundwork for major industrial projects in South Carolina, handling the negotiations up to and including incentive packages. Legislators typically get most involved when decisions are pending on major incentives they must approve.

In this instance, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman were the main legislative players.

The Sanford administration's former commerce secretary, Bob Faith, also deserves credit for leading the initial effort to attract the aircraft manufacturing consortium near the Charleston International Airport and for having the foresight to ensure that the site, purchased with the state's assistance, had plenty of room for industry to grow.

That earlier success made last week's landmark achievement much more attainable.

While Mr. Sanford hasn't been a fan of incentives, he supported the package for Boeing and, as our news report noted, got involved with making the state's pitch to Boeing executives. There had been some concern that the fallout from the governor's extramarital scandal would create problems for the deal. Fortunately, that didn't prove to be the case.

The Boeing coup ranks with getting BMW to put a major factory in the Upstate. It's a victory for state and local leaders and for economic development officials.

Just make sure that Gov. Sanford is included in that list. As the state's chief executive, he selects the commerce secretary, sets the agenda for the agency and is the only elected official in the state to whom it is ultimately responsible.