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City Council Member Leads Push To Bring Boeing Project To Long Beach

LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A Long Beach City Council member is fighting to keep workers at a local Boeing plant on the job.

KNX 1070's Ron Kilgore reports Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske is calling on Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster to help bring wing assembly associated with the Boeing 777X Airliner to the city.

City Council Member Calls On Officials To Bring Boeing Project To Long Beach

Schipske publicly urged Foster to contact Gov. Jerry Brown after a column in Forbes magazine Monday reported that Long Beach is among a handful of cities being considered by Boeing for the project, which would provide between 20 to 25 years of employment.

Boeing — which, according to Schipske, currently accounts for 2.89 percent of the jobs in Long Beach — announced in September that it would close the C-17 Globemaster III facility in 2015, resulting in the loss of more than 5,000 jobs.

Schipske, whose Council District 5 includes Long Beach Airport where Boeing is based, submitted a council agenda item Tuesday asking for a council resolution that would direct the city manager to determine what steps can be taken to bring the 777x wing work to Long Beach.

"This should be a top priority," Schipske said. "They've already got ready-trained people, they've got a facility they've developed in conjuction with the city in terms of the layout, the access to the airport, which is right there.

"Very few other places can boast of having an airport so accessible," she added.

The city has some competition: Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee has called for the state's legislature to offer incentives, including tax breaks and infrastructure improvements, to keep the Boeing 777x wing assembly in that state.

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