Alabama Governor heads to UK, Gulf states courting aerospace jobs

Alabama Governor Bob Riley is headed to the Farnborough International Air Show in the UK next week to court an agreement with an unnamed aerospace company, in the hopes that they’ll bring jobs to the state. If successful, Alabama is expected to break ground on a new aerospace production plant by the end of the year.

The state is working to increase its budding aerospace industry which currently represents about $8 billion of Alabama’s economy. As part of the air show effort, nearly 60 officials, chamber of commerce members and economic developers are expected to attend with the Governor. Riley is also meeting with Boeing, GKN and EADS which already have interests in the state.

In addition to the air show, the Governor is working with officials from Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida to continue to develop the Aerospace Alliance – a group created to make the Gulf Cost an aerospace hub. One of the goals for the group is to secure the KC-45 aerial refueling tanker project for the region. The project is expected to create nearly 48,000 jobs. If the Aerospace Alliance is successful, the KC-45 will be assembled in Mobile, Alabama.

“I’m very optimistic the result of this economic development mission will be new jobs for Alabamians. We continue working hard to bring new jobs to our state, and we will go anywhere to show companies that we have the skilled workforce they need to make their companies successful,” said Governor Riley.

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