BOEING: Hush-hush talks held to attract a company that no one will identify

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Boeing Plant - North Charleston

The Boeing Co. has announced that North Charleston will be home to a new 787 Dreamliner assembly plant, ending a hard-fought contest for the facility that could have instead landed it in Everett, Wash. Boeing announced that it will add to its existing facility at Charleston International Airport where fuselage sections for the Dreamliner are currently constructed.

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina laid out its cards for the first time Tuesday in the high-stakes effort to persuade Boeing Co. to expand in North Charleston, an economic prize bigger than any other in nearly two decades.

Legislators and state leaders wouldn't reveal the name of the company they are courting with a package of financial inducements, but the incentives are clearly intended for the aviation giant.

Boeing is expected to announce any day whether it will build a second assembly line for its long-delayed 787 Dreamliner plant in North Charleston or Everett, Wash., where striking labor unions have stalled production at the company's main manufacturing hub in the past.

The Seattle Times reported Tuesday that the company and the machinists union are tangled in a dispute over a 10-year no-strike deal. Failure to reach an agreement could send Boeing to South Carolina with its low unionization rate.

Boeing's board of directors met Monday in Chicago without making any final decision.

The changes that South Carolina lawmakers aim to pass before close of business today would tweak existing business incentives with one major catch: a company would have to create at least 3,800 jobs and invest more than $750 million within seven years to take advantage of them.

Otis Rawl, president of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, said that threshold has been met by two only companies, BMW and Michelin, in recent decades.

Other changes would include a sales-tax break for construction materials. Another proposal tweaks the wording for a rule that originally passed to lure Google's data storage facility to Goose Creek, expanding what was offered to the technology giant to major manufacturing investments.

One incentive hints at the major investment the state wants to land: a tax exemption for fuel that is burned during aviation test flights and while transporting airplane parts to other manufacturing locations.

Boeing already uses a modified 747 jet to ferry fuselage sections for its 787 from North Charleston to the Seattle area.

The state Board of Economic Advisors released a revenue impact study that was short on details, but Lewis Gossett, president of the S.C. Manufacturers Alliance, said the "state will certainly come out ahead."

Still, politicians at the Statehouse aren't talking above a whispered hush about the biggest economic development deal that some said could be "transformational" for the Lowcountry's economy.

Senate leader Glenn McConnell took private calls and rushed between the chamber floors as he huddled with House Speaker Bobby Harrell and other legislators during the special session.

Harrell and McConnell, both Charleston Republicans, would not utter a word about the deal, code-named Project Gemini. The two worked behind closed doors on a package of incentives the Legislature is scurrying to pass.

Sen. Robert Ford, a Charleston Democrat who wants to be governor, let it slip, only to recant it later in the day. Ford originally said the incentives are intended to land Boeing. Several hours later he said that he wasn't certain if Boeing is the company being courted.

Gov. Mark Sanford would have to sign off on the economic development legislation. Ben Fox, Sanford's communications director, said the governor and his staff have been in communication with the legislative leadership to prepare the incentives package.

"We're in support of using tools in the tool kit to make South Carolina as well positioned as possible to recruit jobs and attract investment going forward," Fox said in a statement.

The special session was called to fix an oversight that has blocked tens of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits to out-of-work South Carolinians.

Legislators left open the possibility of returning to session in two weeks to address economic development issues, but were mum on the details.

In Washington state, the Seattle Times reported that Boeing is seeking a 10-year no-strike clause from the International Association of Machinists, but those talks have reached an impasse.

Boeing would agree to binding arbitration as a way to settle labor disputes, but the union reportedly is reluctant to accept that.

The union also wants Boeing to commit to building any new aircraft in the Seattle area.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855 or ywenger@postandcourier.com. Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.