Come On ‘Seabiscuit!’ (Editorial)

Nearly half the states in the nation have jumped on the bandwagon in hopes of landing a new Boeing jetliner factory.

Even Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee thinks Boeing may be using the bidding among the states for the plant that will assemble the company’s proposed next-generation jetliner as bait to get the best deal possible from the folks near Seattle.

“One of the things that we don’t know at this point is: Is Boeing seriously shopping the national marketplace for a plant, or are they using this opportunity to really squeeze the state of Washington for deeper incentive than they are being offered?” Huckabee was recently quoted as saying.

He’s not alone by any means in his skepticism. Government officials and industry analysts across the nation speculate that Boeing is simply trying to get the attention of Washington, where most of its operations are based.

But Boeing officials say the plant to assemble the 7E7 Dreamliner, a mid-sized, fuel-efficient jet, will be built where it can make the most money for Boeing.

Boeing and its consultants will narrow the list of proposals down, and if the company decides to move ahead with the 7E7, it will select a site for the final assembly plant by the end of the year or early next year.

Even with the generous package of financial incentives that Arkansas can offer under its new “superprojects” legislation, it’s doubtful that this state, or any other state, can match the $3.2 billion, 20-year package of tax breaks for Boeing and its suppliers that Washington is offering to keep the company close to home, where it already employs some 60,000 engineers and aerospace mechanics.

Should Arkansas bother going after it? You bet.

Boeing says the plant will require 800-1,200 employees. And those jobs would pay an average of about $65,000 a year. In addition to the assembly jobs, it could bring an estimated 150,000 indirect and supplier jobs and as much as $540 million in annual tax revenue.

Since Jim Pickens became director of the Arkansas Department of Economic Development, he has taken the position that even if the state doesn’t win, entering a proposal gives the state another opportunity to tell more people that Arkansas is a good place to do business. We like that attitude.

Arkansas’ proposed sites — the old Eaker Air Force Base at Blytheville, Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at Highfill, Little Rock and Fort Smith — are long shots at best.

But every once in a while a long shot comes in a winner.