OKC considered for manufacturing plant.

[JOHNINSOKC]

Yeah, I wonder why Albuquerque published this story when they know that the people from Piper would come across the article at some point. I don't recall hearing a word about Dell until it was announced a couple of years ago. Our chamber is probably taking the tight-lipped approach until the final word is out who will land this company. Logic says OKC is the most centrally located city and has the best infrastructure available to land any aerospace company. All I know about Albuquerque is the cluster of high tech companies that are based there, but I haven't heard a thing about them having aerospace industries. My gut tells me that OKC is a shoe-in.

[jbrown84]

Perhaps they are being cautious after what happened with MG/Nanjing.

[BDP]

Give it a few days.

NewsOK: Piper Aircraft ponders city base<br/><span class='hl2'>Company narrows hunt for new HQ to 3 spots</span>

[OU Adonis]

Perhaps they are being cautious after what happened with MG/Nanjing.

What ended up happening? Did they never come to Ardmore?

[jbrown84]

That seems to have fallen apart. The official word was that it's still happening, but a lower level employee leaked in an interview that the deal was off.

[Doug Loudenback]

News re the Piper plant from Florida:

TCPalm: Local News

Indian River County to vote on Piper on Oct. 9

By HENRY A. STEPHENS
henry.stephens@scripps.com
July 11, 2007

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Voters will get to decide Oct. 9 whether the county should issue $40 million in bonds as part of an incentive package to convince Piper Aircraft Inc. to stay in Vero Beach.

In a 5-0 vote Tuesday, county commissioners agreed to that date for a referendum, even though Supervisor of Elections Kay Clem said she would only need two months to arrange a special election.

The referendum comes as Piper is considering whether to keep its current plant in Vero Beach and build a new facility here for the PiperJet — a new, light jet — or move to Albuquerque, N.M., or Oklahoma City. The company recently rejected bids from Columbia, S.C., and Tallahassee.

At stake are the aircraft maker's 1,050 existing jobs and about 500 people who would be hired to manufacture the PiperJet.

Late last month, both the Vero Beach City Council and the Indian River County Commission voted unanimously in favor of a $76.5 million package of incentives to keep the company flying here. The bulk of the package would be $40 million from the city and county to buy the existing facilities at $23 million and build the jet plant at $17 million.

The city and county would then lease the facility back to Piper for eight years before charging rent.

The bonds would be repaid by property taxes for 30 years, if voters agree. County Administrator Joe Baird said the county needs voter approval because the Legislature's mandate for tax cuts doesn't leave room for the project in the regular budget.

At one point Tuesday, Indian River Shores retiree Ted Robinson chastised the commission for working with Vero Beach and the Chamber of Commerce to help Piper "for reasons not in the overall public interest." He said the city-county incentive would only help people connected to Piper.

Vero Beach resident Dennis Drake said the county should join in the Piper offer, for instance, by selling off property and giving the proceeds toward the project.

"If the county wants Piper here, you'd better look in your own closet and clean that out before you come to me," he said.

Vero Beach resident Jens Tripson said he isn't connected to the company, but said Piper helps the county by being a "big part of the economy," adding the housing slump has shown development can't carry it.

After the meeting, Baird said the referendum would authorize — but not require — the county to sell the bonds.

"The bonds would not be issued without a firm deal with Piper and a signed agreement they won't leave," he said.

So far, however, chamber Executive Director Penny Chandler said Piper hasn't given any guarantee it would stay if the referendum passes. Commissioner Joe Flescher compared that to a gamble.

"We're asking voters to go to the polls without proof of any benefit," he said. "Either way, it's a gamble with $100,000 to $120,000 on a hope."

And that hope is to keep the company's annual $518 million impact on the local economy, Chandler said.

"Piper wouldn't be spending millions of dollars to have their consulting firm draw up paperwork...if they thought they were simply going to be staying here," she said.

There is one thing for sure, Commissioner Wesley Davis noted.

"We're positive that if we don't do this, we are going to lose those jobs," he said.

[jbrown84]

I would think a city that small would do whatever they can to keep a major employer like that. Hard to say whether these incentives are what Piper is really looking for, though.

[AFCM]

Venture79 may have been right all along. I don't know if this is what Piper is looking for, but this doesn't look so good for OKC. I believe Oklahoma City can easily top that offer, but Piper may not have been interested in moving at all and was just wanting to get a significant package of incentives from Vero Beach.

[venture]

Boeing put out the 787 assembly facility for bid. At least one city in every state bid for it. They did the whole..."nailing it down" to 12 cities, then 6, then 3....in every one Renton was always there. Today the 787 is made in the same building as the other Boeing widebodies.

[HOT ROD]

^ right, in Everett! (not renton).

[AFCM]

I feel used.

[venture]

My bad...Renton is the 737 plant. Shame on me.

[AFCM]

Semantics.

[HOT ROD]

no prob venture, its all in the Seattle metro area,

Renton = South (small planes); Everett = North (big ones). Everett is the biggest but Renton is significantly more busy!

[dalelakin]

Let's not make the same mistakes. We have a quality of life now that is better or at least the same as an Indy, so let's market ourselves to the world and grow.

Interesting you should say that. I can give some first hand knowledge on this comparison having just moved from Indianapolis to OKC last year. After spending some time here and seeing some of the improvements that have been made in OKC in the last 10 years I would be inclined to agree that it is equal to if not better here now. The city really reminds me ALOT of where Indy was 15 years ago very progressive with a lot of revitilization in the downtown area new construction everywhere, lots of new housing units in the then dead downtown (sound familiar?). It has all of this done now and there is nothing new on the horizon and as the auto manufacturing jobs leave the area there is nothing new coming to replace that revenue. When that hub was awarded the nod would have gone to Indy but the pendulum has swung and it is a city that is on the decline IMO and OKC is 180 out of the Indianapolis of today. I look forward to watching OKC grow and absorbing all that it has to offer past,present and future.

[metro]

dalelakin, interesting post. That's really encouraging to hear.

[betts]

Piper Aircraft Inc. declines incentive package


By NADIA VANDERHOOF
nadia.vanderhoof@scripps.com

TCPalm: Business

Posted at 6:22 p.m.
Updated at 6:23 p.m.
July 18, 2007
VERO BEACH — Piper Aircraft Inc. has declined the city and county's financing for an incentive package stating that it's best not to move forward with a package tied to a countywide referendum.
The region's $76.5 million incentive package was offered in June to keep the company's headquarters and the planned PiperJet manufacturing plant in Vero Beach. A countywide vote is scheduled for Oct. 9.

"The referendum issue is causing public conflict, divisiveness, and unwarranted speculation in the local community, which was never our intention," company management wrote in a full page advertisement in Thursday's Vero Beach Press Journal.
"We do not wish to subject the employees of Piper to the uncertainty of a highly controversial public political process related to the overall economic development efforts in Vero Beach and Indian River County," the ad reads.

"Moreover, our decision to reject the proposed referendum is also because it is not financially compelling in that it requires Piper to payback more than $100 million dollars in rent over a 30 year period in exchange for $23 million in incentives for properties that Piper currently owns," the ad reads.

[Easy180]

Very good news betts

Looking good for us or that crappy state to the west of us

I mean they aren't even on the list of potential NBA cities

[jbrown84]

woot woot!

(sorry, vero beach )

[venture]

Attempting to stay negative here since I never get what I want...

This doesn't mean Vero Beach is out...simply that they don't want to get into a political fight with local citizens.

[AFCM]

It seems a little like Piper is just posturing for a better deal, almost like they're putting on their poker face and waiting for Vero Beach to go all-in. I hope I'm wrong.

[betts]

GENERAL NEWS Council considers economic impact in Piper incentive decisionby Brian Brus
The Journal Record July 24, 2007

The Journal Record - Article


OKLAHOMA CITY – When the Oklahoma City Council discussed potential incentives to land a Piper Aircraft manufacturing center last month, the package was kept under wraps to keep competing cities from gaining an upper hand.

One figure helps put the value of those incentives in perspective: $518 million. That’s Piper’s expected regional economic impact, officials said – officials in Florida, that is. It’s difficult to find an estimate of Piper’s effect in Oklahoma City.Article Tools Printer friendly edition E-mail this to a friend RSS Feed Digg this history Add to Del.icio.us Kristy Yager said the Piper incentive package was discussed in executive session during a normal City Council meeting, which protects specific details from being revealed. As for the figures that the mayor and council members may have used to weigh those incentives, she referred to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. The chamber produces most of City Hall’s economic impact figures, she said.
And chamber spokeswoman Cynthia Reid said the organization won’t discuss the number of employees that might be moving with the plant.
So Oklahoma City residents won’t be given any details of the deal until after it’s hashed out by city leaders. “Since it’s still a prospect, we are not really at a place where we have anything that’s releasable,” she said. “While we’re working with them (Piper representatives), in terms of what they’re looking at doing here, it’s still private, confidential client information.”

(story continues)

[OU Adonis]

This would be a great coup to get.

[metro]

Here's the full article. For those of you who ask why you haven't heard more about OKC in the headlines and what we're offering, this will answer your questions.



Council considers economic impact in Piper incentive decision

July 24, 2007

OKLAHOMA CITY – When the Oklahoma City Council discussed potential incentives to land a Piper Aircraft manufacturing center last month, the package was kept under wraps to keep competing cities from gaining an upper hand.One figure helps put the value of those incentives in perspective: $518 million. That’s Piper’s expected regional economic impact, officials said – officials in Florida, that is. It’s difficult to find an estimate of Piper’s effect in Oklahoma City.Kristy Yager said the Piper incentive package was discussed in executive session during a normal City Council meeting, which protects specific details from being revealed. As for the figures that the mayor and council members may have used to weigh those incentives, she referred to the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber. The chamber produces most of City Hall’s economic impact figures, she said.And chamber spokeswoman Cynthia Reid said the organization won’t discuss the number of employees that might be moving with the plant. So Oklahoma City residents won’t be given any details of the deal until after it’s hashed out by city leaders. “Since it’s still a prospect, we are not really at a place where we have anything that’s releasable,” she said. “While we’re working with them (Piper representatives), in terms of what they’re looking at doing here, it’s still private, confidential client information.”Impact figures are fairly easily calculated by economists all the time, said Robert C. Dauffenbach, director of the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Economic and Management Research. The numbers reflect how much new money is feeding into the local economy, which in turn can be dispersed to some degree through the market via the purchase of goods and services and supporting other jobs. In the simplest equation, the most important variables needed are either a company’s gross sales or employment.Some of those figures are already known. Piper announced many months ago it is planning to build a manufacturing facility for its new, single-engine PiperJet aircraft and possibly relocate corporate headquarters from Vero Beach, Fla. The municipal government in Florida has revealed that the new plant itself is expected to employ about 1,500 people. The company currently employs about 1,000, and the average salary of a Piper employee is about $39,000. Economists there have calculated the plant is worth $518 million annually to their local economy.Oklahoma City is in direct competition with Vero Beach. The third finalist for Piper’s decision is Albuquerque, N.M.Economic impact numbers are usually used to clarify something’s importance, Dauffenbach said. For example, he is involved in a big study every year to find the university’s economic impact on the Norman community.When the General Motors assembly plant in Oklahoma City closed in 2005, city officials estimated it had an annual economic impact of $1.2 billion. And when Dell announced intent to open a customer contact center south of the Oklahoma River in 2005, City Hall’s online document – which has not been updated or removed – projected an impact of $246.5 million by this September and a cumulative impact of $764.7 million by the fourth year. The former provided reason to fight for the plant’s continuation; the latter showed why Dell would be a valuable, new resident. In both cases, financial incentive packages were proffered. GM turned down a proposal from Gov. Brad Henry that would have led to a $200 million bond issue to help retool the plant. The City Council offer to Dell involved 62 acres of land, up to $11.25 million in improvements and as much as $5.5 million in job-creation grants.Dauffenbach said it’s important to keep economic impact figures in perspective – the area of effect must be identified, for example, as well as the counter-balancing investment expenses. In other words, is it cost-effective to pay for a company to relocate?“There’s also a lot of lying that goes on about impacts,” Dauffenbach said of hypothetical development projects in general. “A lot of times there’s an attempt to show only the gross side (positive impact) and not the net value.”Dauffenbach cited as an example a recent economic review he was involved in: “We came across a Texas study where they were trying to figure out the economic impact of retirement beneficiaries living there. But they didn’t look at the negative side, the money being paid in by Texas citizens to support retirement,” he said.“So you have to watch things in that kind of sense,” he said. “Typically you have to do a lot of checking to make sure you have good numbers.”Reid and Yager said Piper has not set any deadlines yet as to when the company might make its decision.

Copyright © 2007 The Journal Record

[Doug Loudenback]

Piper is also said/rumored to be "up for sale". See Piper Aircraft may be up for sale -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com . Whether so or not is apparently unsubstantiated. The article also says this:

In 2003, American Capital paid $34 million for Piper's $57 million in bank debt. At the time, together with its $20 million investment in Piper in 1998, American Capital officials said they owned 94 percent of Piper.

Piper Aircraft is currently considering the offers of Vero Beach, Albuquerque, N.M., and Oklahoma City for its future headquarters and PiperJet manufacturing plant.

The company recently said it would not accept the public financing of an incentive package from Vero Beach and Indian River County, stating it's best for the community not to move forward with a proposal tied to a countywide referendum. The region's $76.5 million incentive package was offered in June to keep the company's headquarters and the planned PiperJet operations in Vero Beach.

Separately, Piper sold 61 aircraft and revenues reached an estimated $46.4 million in the quarter ending June 30 according to a new report from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. During the first quarter of 2007, Piper sold 43 aircraft and revenues reached $32.5 million.