SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Boeing Co., based in Chicago, will invest $200 million to start producing the US Navy’s newest unmanned aircraft at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport, officials announced Friday, in a project that may bring at least 150 jobs to the company’s southwest Illinois site.
Company officials and politicians gathered at the airport in Mascoutah, approximately 29 miles (47 kilometers) southeast of St. Louis, to celebrate not just Boeing’s expansion of operations, which now employs 70 people.
Governor J.B. Pritzker stated, “This state-of-the-art production facility further roots Boeing’s local presence here in Metro East and extends Illinois’ heritage of support for our national security…” “Boeing employs hundreds of Illinois residents and supports tens of thousands more around the state. I’m honored to have them as a partner in preparing our towns for manufacturing in the twenty-first century.”
In exchange for the $200 million investment over 15 years and the addition of at least 150 jobs to the 70 already at MidAmerica, where Boeing has been producing components for the CH-47 Chinook helicopter, the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft, and other defense equipment for about a decade, Boeing will receive tax breaks worth about $8.7 million on its state income tax liability.
The MidAmerica facility is expected to begin construction later this year and be finished in early 2024. By the middle of 2024, production would be underway.
Robotic automation and “advanced assembly techniques” will be used at the plant to increase product quality as well as staff ergonomics and safety. Officials claim that Boeing’s digital engineering of the MQ-25 and its systems really improves product quality and efficiency.
The Illinois Department of Transportation is set to invest another $25 million in taxiway and airfield upgrades, while Pritzker’s administration has committed a $7 million DCEO award to modernize the passenger terminal.