$10M coming for Tulsa aviation projects

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The state will provide a $10 million incentive package to expand two aviation projects and create 600 jobs, Gov. Brad Henry announced Wednesday.

'This will be a great economic shot in the arm for our entire state,' Henry said at a news conference in the American Airlines hangar at Tulsa International Airport. He said the aviation and aerospace industry is 'absolutely critical' to Oklahoma's growth and prosperity. He was joined by Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor, Tulsa Metro Chamber President and CEO Mike Neal and other area leaders for the announcement.

Tulsa's aviation package provides $5.7 million in state incentive funds to help build a new maintenance hangar for American Airlines.

Another $4.3 million is earmarked for the remediation of a building needed by Spirit Aerosystems to meet product demands. Each project is expected to create 300 new jobs each.

The City of Tulsa, the federal government and the two companies are also providing assistance to the projects, both located at Tulsa International Airport.

Carmine Romano, American Airlines vice president of the Tulsa maintenance and engineering base, said the investment will help the company keep work in-house and 'buck the trend' that has other airlines outsourcing heavy maintenance and laying off employees.

'Tulsa is open for business,' said Chet Cadieux, chairman of the Tulsa Metro Chamber and president and CEO of QuikTrip Corp. 'This is a new era for Tulsa.'

To make the investment, Henry tapped the state's Opportunity Fund, an economic development account he helped create last year to assist with job creation projects.

The fund began with $45 million in surplus revenue and the only project funded to date had been $20 million for Nanjing Automobile Corp., a Chinese carmaker that announced plans to manufacture MG sports cars in Ardmore.

Earlier this month, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a three-member board set up to oversee the grant approval process of the Opportunity Fund violated the Oklahoma Constitution because two of its members were lawmakers.

The opinion was prospective only and will not affect grants tied to the Ardmore proposal, but it did bar the three-member Contingency Review Board, as it is now constituted, from approving future grants from the Opportunity Fund.

'It makes it clear that the executive branch, in this case the governor, approves distribution of funds upon a recommendation from the commerce department,' said Paul Sund, a spokesman for Gov. Henry. 'However, the governor will still make it a point to consult with legislative leaders before making a final decision on a particular project.'

American Airlines employs about 7,000 people in the Tulsa area, most at its Maintenance & Engineering Center.

The company has been working to turn the facility into a profit center for the company by doing more third-party maintenance, along with overhauling its own airplanes.

Spirit, a former Boeing Co. operation, makes components for Boeing commercial aircraft. Its plant at Tulsa International employs 1,760 people, up 400 from a year ago.

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