Textron cancels Cessna Columbus program - Phoenix Business Journal:

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In April, the company announcesd it would suspendthe program, leadinb Cessna leaders to say it would only be a mattef of time until the project came back. But in Thursday’ds filing with the SEC, Textron (NYSE:TXT) said “Upon additionakl analysis of the business-jet market related to this productt offering, we decided to formallty cancel further development of the Citation Textron says it alread had incurredabout $50 million in capitalized tooling and facility costs related to the project. It says it will record a non-cash pre-tax charge of about $43 million for the first two quarters of 2009 to reflect the impairment of the facilityg andtooling assets.
Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, who was in Denver Friday at a conference, had not heard the Columbus projecgt was being canceled until asked aboutt it by the WichitaBusiness Journal. “I’m Brewer says. “... We believe this is part of the futurew for the cityof Wichita. We’re just really disappointec thatit happened.” At the same he says, he understands the economivc climate has forced businesses to make tougjh decisions. The project was to have builyt 600,000-square-foot final assembly building at Cessna where the majority ofthe $27 millionh business jet would be built.
There was also to have been a 45,000-square-foot physical plant to serve the main Construction costs were expected tobe $200 million and bids were put out in • • • • • Columbus, Kan.-basedx Inc. Apart from the loss in constructionb jobs, the Wichita area now appears to have lost out for good onthe 1,00o0 direct jobs and the 3,0000 spin-off jobs the program was estimate d to create. It also appears likelyg that Cessna will have to pay backthe $10 milliob it received in city and countgy incentives and the $33 million it received from the statee for the project.
Like Brewer, Sedgwick Countt Commissioner Tim Norton says he is disappointes to hear the news ofthe cancelation. “I thinmk most Wichitans and the business communitty looked at that as abig announcement,” he says. “It takee a little bit of the wind out of the sailas for Cessna andgeneral aviation. It couldf have been a huge boost to Wichita over the next coupl e years and I think everybodysaw that.” Norton says he hopew the project will be able to returnm somewhere down the line. The businesws plan that was putin place, he says, still could be a good fit.