Will Pierce County suppliers take a hit from Boeing’s decision to move 787 work to S.C.?
Chicago-based Boeing on Thursday confirmed reports it was moving all of its 787 Dreamliner production next year to South Carolina, but it noted Pierce County suppliers are unaffected for now.
Those same suppliers were hit with changes earlier this year, first with temporary shutdowns to slow the pandemic’s spread based on the governor’s stay-at-home orders followed by reductions in orders.
In a statement provided to The News Tribune on Thursday, Boeing media representative Jessica Kowal said: “We don’t intend to make any changes to our existing suppliers as a result of the decision to consolidate 787 work in South Carolina. Our sourcing decisions are based on a supplier’s ability to meet our performance, affordability and schedule requirements, among other needs.”
Pierce County is home to around 70 suppliers for the aerospace giant, according to Bruce Kendall, president and CEO of the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County, with about 650 located statewide.
“Boeing hasn’t stopped investing in the state of Washington by any stretch. And so that will continue,” Kendall told The News Tribune in a phone interview Thursday. “I’m not worried that this is the first step in a clear path of Boeing leaving the state of Washington. I don’t think that’s going to happen.
“I don’t think Boeing wants that. And certainly the state of Washington doesn’t want that.”
Area aerospace suppliers absorbed painful work reductions before Thursday’s announcement, with Boeing cutting orders as air travel and orders for new planes plummeted during the pandemic.
“In order to remain competitive through these unprecedented times, as we announced in July, Boeing must reduce the 787 production rate from 10 airplanes per month to 6 airplanes per month in 2021; this rate reduction was previously communicated to suppliers,” Kowal said Thursday.
Some, such as Tool Gauge and Machine Works in Tacoma, switched some of its work earlier this year to PPE and face shield production. Tool Gauge also received a loan via the Paycheck Protection Program in the range of $2 million to $5 million to save 150 jobs.
Tool Gauge recently completed a manufacturing facility expansion project to increase its plastics press range and install a state-of-the art vertical paint system.
With the expansion, Tool Gauge plans to add at least 100 jobs, its website noted. Last month, it announced on social media it was looking to fill a handful of open positions.
The new work hasn’t completely stemmed the tide of layoffs, with Tool Gauge and others reducing their workforce over the summer amid diminished orders.
The company did not return requests for comment on Boeing’s move Thursday from The News Tribune.
Sekisui Aerospace, formerly AIM Aerospace, was among those announcing layoffs.
Sekisui Chemical completed its acquisition of AIM last year, including its Sumner location.
AIM had expanded in Sumner in 2018, relocating work previously done in Auburn and bringing 600 jobs, and had received a $125,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce to support the expansion and job creation at its sites in Sumner and Renton that same year.
As for Boeing workers, Kowal said the company has “approximately 900 employees who work on the 787 program in the Puget Sound region.”
“Staffing requirements will be developed and evaluated in the next few months in conjunction with the overall transition plan, and we will work to minimize the impacts to our employees when possible,” she said. “Note that in normal times and now we have and will continue to move employees to different roles.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 3:14 PM.
