Boeing move in South Carolina reverberates in Mobile

Boeing Co.'s announcement that it will establish production of its 787 Dreamliner in Charleston, S.C., sent shock waves across the aerospace industry — and the reverberations could have a major impact in the Southeast.

Chicago-based Boeing said last week it would add a second assembly line for the 787 in Charleston to help ease a backlog of orders for the fast-selling jet at its existing plant in Everett, Wash.

Boeing's labor unions and political backers fought hard to keep the work in Washington state, its longtime production home. Their fear is that the Charleston move could be the first step in a painful decline for the Seattle area, following a path blazed by Detroit.

The Motor City's economy has collapsed as its bread-and-butter industry — automotive manufacturing — continues its migration away from the Rust Belt and into the low-cost South.

The news was met with jubilation in Charleston, which touted its business-friendly climate, ready pool of workers and generous tax incentives. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham , R-S.C., even suggested that Southern manners helped sway Boeing's board.

In Mobile, a kindred city to Charleston, there was ambivalence.

The two cities share a common history and culture, but have battled ferociously for a pair of major economic development projects in recent years — including the deal that ultimately brought Boeing to the Low Country.

Mobile and Charleston in 2004 were finalists for the proposed 787 assembly line, a

$1 billion project that Boeing chose to keep in Everett. A year later, the two cities held a rematch for a major supplier for the 787.

Alabama bowed out of the competition in its final stages. State leaders said the financing for the project — a joint venture between Vought Aircraft Industries Inc. and Alenia Aeronautica — was shaky, and that the companies were hedging on the number of workers they intended to hire.

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