Latest on Boeing Deal

The Boeing plant deal is far and away the largest corporate site selection project out there at he moment. Soon, the company will make a decision. Until then, communities and states will remain in a dither about the deal. Here is a new twist on the project. Now you have site relocation specialists, not involved in the deal directly, speculating about which location will win. It's almost as though the project is some perverted horse race.

Outside site location experts seem to divide into two schools: those who believe the plant is still Washington's to lose and the entire exercise is about squeezing the best terms from this state; and those who believe the real competition is among an array of states in the South and Southeast, one of which will almost assuredly win the plant away from the incumbent.

"I think the judgment is open, but conventional wisdom is this will go to Southeast U.S. or Texas," said Dennis Donovan, director of global site selections for Wadley-Donovan, a Grubb & Ellis Co. company in Edison, N.J..

From just six miles away, in Fords, N.J., comes a contradictory view from Locations Advisory Service partner Saul Grohs: "The only buzz is that this may all be just a ploy to stay in the state of Washington, and see what they can do about raising the ante there."

Some of the variables leading up to the decision were clarified Nov. 20, when Boeing announced that 35 percent of the structure will be manufactured by Boeing in existing plants in Oklahoma, Washington, Kansas and Winnipeg, and another large piece by a joint venture of Vought-Alenia, in Texas.

Industry relocation experts from around the country all agree the crux of the decision will come down to one point: Boeing's profit margins and what site will help that most.

While Boeing has not asked the competing locations to talk among themselves about the deal, maybe they should to just that as a way to bring some sanity to the project. Who knows...maybe it would help ensure that the winner does not end up paying six times more than the prized plant is actually worth in terms of economic impact.

If Boeing is smart, it will make a decision quickly before several new companies announce the hunt for new facility locations. When that happens, the Boeing deal will no longer be the only deal on the table commanding communities' and states' attention. Locations will be less likely to cough up billions for the Boeing deal when they see their are other deals for them to bid on.

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