Interest from Boeing helped seal Spirit deal

Although they ultimately decided not to establish a manufacturing plant there, the Global TransPark stuck in the minds of Boeing officials, and that interest helped bring about Spirit AeroSystems' choice to build a plant at the GTP.

The Chicago-based Boeing, which manufactures multiple types of military and civilian aircraft, spent 2003 looking for a location in which to build its Dreamliner airplane. Kinston's Global TransPark made Boeing's short list of sites, and speculation ran rampant in the community for about six months.

Boeing announced that December that it would establish the Dreamliner plant near existing facilities in the Seattle suburbs.

Four-and-a-half years later, Gov. Mike Easley stood in a TransPark hangar and announced Wednesday that the Kansas-based Spirit, a former subsidiary of Boeing, would open a facility to build aircraft components at the GTP.

Easley told the crowd that he received a "good news, bad news call" from Boeing while he was in Kitty Hawk attending the centennial celebration of the Wright Brothers' first flight.

"The bad news was, they were not going to be able to come here," the governor said. "But the good news was, and they stressed this, ‘you passed the test; your site will work for a major aerospace center.'"

TransPark Executive Director Darlene Waddell stated Thursday: "I've been saying this all along; Boeing put the Global TransPark on the map."

Officials at the GTP have spent the past few years working with the state to develop the park as a hub for aircraft and technology firms.

The N.C. Aerospace Alliance was formed in 2005. The Alliance, which is headquartered at the TransPark, works to bring businesses that specialize in aircraft and military technology to the area.

Most of the recent tenants, such as Spatial Integrated Systems Inc. and Commerce Overseas Corporation, are relatively small.

Spirit executives, who began working with GTP and state leaders in late 2006, have stated that their firm will invest $570.5 million and created more than 1,000 jobs. The firm has contracts with Boeing, Airbus and other major aircraft builders.

"We view all deals as major to the TransPark," Waddell said. "We just absolutely hit a grand slam yesterday."

She added: "I believe that the strategic business plan that we're working from now, and the assets that we have in place, fits Spirit."

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077, or danderson@freedomenc.com