Happy landing for Boeing

There could hardly have been better timing for the groundbreaking of the new Boeing manufacturing plant in North Charleston. With the state jobless rate reaching a recent high of 12.1 percent, the ceremony underscored the importance of the wide-ranging and cooperative effort required to bring the aerospace giant to South Carolina.

As Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., told the assembly, the project's significance can be described as "jobs, more jobs and many more jobs."

In the near term, it will mean 2,000 construction jobs to build the plant to house the new assembly line for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner that promises to be the industry's new standard for passenger aircraft.

And it will mean 3,800 manufacturing jobs to build the plane, beginning in 2011 when the fast-track plant construction project is complete.

And there will be spin-off employment as South Carolina establishes what Boeing executive Jim Albaugh described as a "a world-class aerospace capability in South Carolina."

Landing Boeing for the Lowcountry also re-emphasizes the state's capacity to undertake major economic development projects, and to ably staff them after their completion. The success of the BMW plant in upstate Greer continues to make that case 17 years after it opened. Now it's North Charleston's turn.

Landing Boeing also demonstrates that state, congressional and local leaders can work together to make a major project happen. That, too, couldn't have come at a better time for South Carolina.

The political atmosphere has been especially ugly in recent months with the long-running dispute over the state's receipt of federal stimulus money, Gov. Mark Sanford's personal scandal and his possible impeachment, and the brouhaha surrounding Rep. Joe Wilson's nationally televised upbraiding of the president.

With the Boeing achievement, state leaders have given the nation a different look at the Palmetto State -- one emphasizing competence and cooperation, instead of rancor and division.

Bringing Boeing to South Carolina would be a major accomplishment at any time. Doing so during these difficult economic times is doubly so. As the Dreamliner project takes flight, commercial and manufacturing interests around the world will have an opportunity to see what South Carolina workers can do.