Honeywell To Build Part Of New Air Force Tanker
COON RAPIDS, Minn. (WCCO) -- The long awaited decision was finally made public last Thursday at the Pentagon.
"We announce that the Air Force has selected KCX proposal presented by the Boeing Company," said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley.
KCX, to be formally called the KC-46A, is the latest jet aircraft to join the Air Force fleet. It will be a modern air-to-air refueling tanker to replace the aging fleet of KC-135 tankers first developed more than 50 years ago.
Thursday's contract awarded to the Boeing Corporation is worth $35 billion.
The contract is being celebrated not just in Washington, Boeing's world headquarters, but also in Minnesota. That's because a portion of the sub-contracted work may very well end up at the Honeywell Aerospace plant in Coon Rapids.
It's expected that workers at the plant will manufacture and supply components of the plane's navigational systems.
"It definitely gets everybody excited," said Marc Nevinski.
He is director of community development for the city and hails the announcement as a win for the area's economic strategy.
The typical worker in Coon Rapids earns about 25 percent less than the metro average. That's why the city is making it a priority to seek more highly skilled, highly paid jobs to help bolster the local economy.
Once the Boeing contract hits high gear, it could bring an additional 230 skilled workers to the Honeywell plant. In June 2010, Honeywell and Boeing held a rally at the Coon Rapids plant to push for the Boeing bid. That's when then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced the contract would generate at least $11 million in economic activity and add another 230 jobs to the state's workforce.
"That means there is going to be more daily commerce in Coon Rapids," said Nevinski. "It means our economic base will be more stable and hopefully, we'll continue to grow."
The contract will provide years of work for thousands of workers in 40 states. The first 18 tankers won't be delivered until 2017. The total contract will build 179 tankers for the Department of Defense.
Honeywell spokesman Bill Reavis would not confirm details of the company's expectations for the project, including the numbers of jobs and money it will generate.
"This is a long-term program that adds to our ongoing business base," Reavis said.
