This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 8, 2011 - WASHINGTON - A new sub-assembly manufacturing unit of Boeing Co. started production work Monday at MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, officials said.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Belleville, said the new facility, known as "Boeing St. Clair," eventually would employ 75 workers, about a third of whom are expected to be on site by this spring.
"This is a great day for St. Clair County and MidAmerica, and is a major step in our region's long-term relationship with Boeing," he said.
The manufacturing unit is situated in a 50,000-square-foot warehouse building at the airport. The Chicago-based company signed a long-term lease last summer and said it planned to spend about $7 million on the start-up.
At a news conference last August to announce the new facility, Boeing Defense, Space & Security President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg said the site was "an ideal choice" because of its proximity to Boeing headquarters, the local presence of a skilled workforce, and the existing infrastructure at MidAmerica Airport.
Noting that the employees would be new hires rather than transfers from Boeing's plant in St. Louis County, Muilenburg said the St. Clair sub-assembly made sense "as Boeing looks for opportunities to expand our core business and ensure our St. Louis site remains competitive as we meet the high-value, low-cost needs of our customers."
Costello first started discussions with Boeing six years ago about opening a manufacturing plant in the Metro East area. He said Monday that "we have the facilities and the workforce to allow for future growth, and we expect Boeing's presence to lead to further economic development. I look forward to continuing working with everyone involved to maximize the success of Boeing St. Clair."
MidAmerica, which opened in 1997, is owned by St. Clair County. It was originally touted as a "reliever airport" to ease the congestion at Lambert St. Louis International Airport, which was then a major hub for now-defunct Trans World Airlines.
But Lambert's loss of its hub status after American Airlines took over TWA and then downsized its St. Louis operations, meant that MidAmerica did not attract the expected extra air traffic. The airport has since focused more on cargo and manufacturing operations.