Boeing Flying in More Than 500 Jobs to Oklahoma City

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Boeing Company says it is relocating two programs from Long Beach, Calif., to Oklahoma City, a move expected to bring 550 engineering jobs to the state.

Boeing announced in a news release Monday it is moving its C-130 Avionics Modernization program to Oklahoma City beginning in the first quarter of 2011. The move of the B-1 program is expected toward the end of 2012.

"Part of our decision was affordability," said Jennifer Hogan with Boeing in Oklahoma City. "Oklahoma City is a great place to do business. We are conscience of the budget cuts Defense is going through and this move will also make us competitive for future work."

Both programs are part of the Maintenance, Modifications & Upgrades division of the company's St. Louis-based Boeing Defense, Space & Security.

Both aircrafts are part of critical defense programs from the military.

MM&U Vice President and General Manager Mark Bass said the relocation will help Boeing "provide a more competitive cost structure for customers."

Boeing said some California employees will be relocated, while other positions will be hired locally.

The idea of creating positions and bringing new engineers to Oklahoma is exciting for both the Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers and the Oklahoma Engineering Foundation. Both are run by Sheri Penner.

"Oklahoma isn't really known for engineering. We've been working really hard on that. Over half of the engineers licensed in Oklahoma are non-residents so bringing in this type of engineering is a big boost for the engineering industry," said Penner.

She adds more engineering jobs in the state further encourages students to head down the engineering path which Penner believes is the future of Oklahoma.