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Gov. Mary Fallin and leaders at Boeing celebrated the dedication of the aerospace giant’s new facility in southeast Oklahoma City on Friday morning, with Fallin touting tax credits she said helped make the expansion possible.
Boeing will begin moving labs and equipment into the building in the next couple of weeks, said Michael Emmelhainz, Boeing’s vice president of Large Aircraft and Engineering Sustainment and the Oklahoma City senior site executive.
Emmelhainz said everything should be moved in by the middle of next year.
Fallin said the Boeing facility will support 800 jobs. She and Boeing’s leaders praised the aerospace engineers tax credit for helping grow the aerospace industry in the state.
“There was some discussion even this year about whether we should keep the aerospace tax credit, and many of us fought hard to keep it here, and I know it made a difference in attracting so many of the different divisions of Boeing to Oklahoma, and other companies too,” the governor said.
The aerospace tax credit gives qualified engineers up to $5,000 in tax credits for up to five years, and also includes tax credits for companies.
The dedication of the 300,000-square-foot facility comes as Boeing is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The new facility will mainly be used to develop ways to prolong the life of existing aircraft.
”The labs in Oklahoma City are where the ideas to sustain and advance our B-52, our C-17, the AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft) and many other platforms will come to life,” said Ed Dolanski, president of Boeing’s Global Services and Support Division.
