Snohomish City Council gives support to Resolution 1255 supporting of the Boeing Companys bid to build the new generation of United States Air Force tanker aircraft.

The contract, which could be worth up to $35 billion, would provide employment at Boeings Everett assembly plant by retaining or creating jobs for up to 50,000 employees. A contract issued to Boeing would be expected by the company to keep its Everett-based 767 aircraft assembly line in production for nearly two decades.

Since the recent announcement of withdrawal from the bidding process by Northrop Grumman, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.( EADS) requested a delay in the bidding process and just as the agenda packet was being completed received a U.S. Department of Defense approval for a 60-day delay. EADS would presumably seek to provide a new bid offering the company's A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport. Nevertheless, the Boeing Company remains the only U.S.-based manufacturer in the bidding process.

There was no mention by the Defense Department of intentions to revise competition rules, a move that EADS has insisted on from the start of its opposition to the bid. On October 6, 2009, the City Council supported the cost of a $1,000 contribution to the Washington Aerospace Partnership, which has been created to support the ongoing growth of the aerospace industry.

The Partnerships efforts are particularly targeted now toward the success of the Boeing Company and to encourage that future decisions regarding the Air Force tanker project be made within the context of creating more aerospace jobs for employees in the Puget Sound region.

In addition to the Boeing Companys vast employment and economic strength in the region, Snohomish benefits more directly from aerospace employment by Soundair, which in 2003 located to the Snohomish Business Park on Bickford Avenue.

The continued growth and economic strength of the Boeing Company is directly responsible for a wide range and growing number of other aerospace employers in the region that provide supplies, parts, and services to Boeing and to the industry in general.

See Resolution 1255