The Race for the New Vought Aircraft Plant

Alabama development officials may have decided that the new Vought aircraft plant is probably not in the cards for them. They may drop plans to drop out of the competition.

Vought is reportedly using the same site-selection data Boeing used when looking for a place to build the 7E7. While that plant and its 1,200 jobs ended up in Washington State, all three sites ranked high on the list of cost-effective alternatives.

The state of Alabama had put together an incentives package to help seal the deal, but withdrew its offer last month when Vought cut back estimates on how many jobs the plant would create, the Birmingham (Ala.) News reported this week.

Conflicting reports are being circulated in the media about exactly Alabama's withdrawal means for Kinston. The Birmingham News reported that Kinston is still under consideration, but another report in the Mobile (Ala.) Register indicated that Charleston was the only remaining finalist.

More here.