Yesterday's Seattle PI had a good story on Mobile's growing aerospace sector, expected to swell with the tanker deal.
The Mobile jet-production site, still undeveloped, would be an acorn compared with Boeing's operations in Everett and Renton. It could produce about four planes per month, compared with Boeing's 40.
Still, when it comes to attracting aerospace investment, Alabama has the advantage, said Tom Captain, a senior principal in aerospace and defense at Deloitte Consulting.
"I'm working right now for aerospace companies who are looking to place work, and I'm telling you, Washington is not on their top 10 list," said Captain, who has worked in the industry for 27 years.
The high cost of living in Seattle and high wages make it harder to compete, even though Washington promises aerospace incentives, he said.
"After this tanker loss, the state is going to have a defining moment, a gotcha moment," Captain said. Washington would do well, he said, to model itself after South Carolina, Virginia and Alabama.
The tanker deal isn't done, of course, but the competitiveness warning from Captain rings true.
