Points to ponder in light of the recent Boeing announcement to close the Wichita Kansas facility

http://www.kansas.com/2012/01/04/2162092/boeing-to-close-wichita-plant.html

1) Business follows the money.  This is a basic fact well understood by most individuals over the age of 12. 

2) According to the Wichita Eagle article, Boeing’s decision was made after a study of the site’s marketing environment and its competitors.  The insurmountable challenge was Wichita’s costs which made it uncompetitive to maintain and win new business. 

Question: Was this study done by Boeing alone or in conjunction with Kansas elected officials and labor unions?  The following website,

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news2011/28/boeing-737-max-contest-between-carolinas.html

provides a link to a study done in November 2011 by Washington State titled, Washington Aerospace Partnership Aerospace Competitiveness Study.  This partnership is a business/government/labor collaboration that works together to improve Washington's competitiveness to attract and retain aerospace companies.   Does the state of Kansas have such a partnership to attract and retain aerospace companies?  If so, have they done a similar analysis?  Where is the report and what is the plan to keep Kansas competitive?  If not, why not and what does this say about the proactiveness, foresight and competency of our elected officials? 

3)  The Wichita Eagle article also states, “Boeing has not entered into conversations with elected officials about what could be done to have a positive outcome for the Wichita site. So it’s difficult to suggest there is a path forward different from what Boeing is taking.” 

Question:  When Boeing has talked with elected officials in the past in agreed to confidence, have the elected officials kept the confidence they agreed to, or did they immediately break that confidence and disseminate the information?  If the confidence was broken, is there any wonder Boeing is hesitant to discuss anything with them now and what does that say about the integrity of our elected officials?

Additional information regarding the Boeing decision can be found at

http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/whats-wrong-with-kansas-how-the-pentagons-tanker-strategy-destroyed-jobs-in-wichita?a=1&c=1171

Paij