Boeing is planning a mandatory meeting today for all employees at its Wichita defense plant amid speculation about the facility’s future.
Boeing officials announced last month they have been studying whether to close the defense plant.
U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., recently said a top Boeing official told him the firm plans to do modifications on the Air Force tankers in Washington state rather than Wichita.
The Wichita Eagle reports that employees were notified Tuesday that they are required to attend today’s meeting.
A recent article in KansasReporters.org speculates that Kansas is fighting an uphill battle with Washington to become a site for Boeing’s airborne tanker construction program.
The reason for that concern? Washington is more business-friendly than Kansas.
The website ranked Washington 11th in business-friendly tax policies in 2011. Kansas ranked 35th overall based on a combination of the states’ corporate taxes and individual income taxes, property taxes, unemployment taxes and sales taxes.
South Carolina, where Boeing has built its first assembly line outside the Puget Sound area for its new 787 Dreamliner, was ranked 24th. Texas, where Boeing has a big overhaul and modification operation in San Antonio, was 13th.
The Associated Press, John Gillie john.gillie @thenewstribune.com
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