TOLEDO Ohio hopes Boeing Co. will build aircraft plant, bring 1,200 jobs

A northwest Ohio official says he's been talking with an aerospace company.
TOLEDO (AP) -- Ohio is making a bid to land a new Boeing Co. aircraft plant that would bring as many as 1,200 jobs, the governor's office said.
At least 10 other states are vying for the plant.
The state Department of Development has been working on its proposal to Boeing, Orest Holubec, a spokesman for Gov. Bob Taft, said this week.
State officials have met with Boeing representatives to discuss what the company needs.
Boeing will use a 27-page questionnaire to narrow the list of possible sites. The company wants responses by June 20 and plans to decide on a plant site by year's end.
Competition
Other states reportedly working on proposals include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Texas, Indiana, Kansas, Illinois, Georgia, South Carolina and Wisconsin.
Boeing may also keep the plant in the Seattle area, where the company has built airplanes since 1916. It moved its corporate headquarters to Chicago in 2001.
One potential site in Ohio may be in Toledo.
Don Jakeway, president the Regional Growth Partnership, said the northwest Ohio economic development agency is working on a "major project for an aerospace company." He would not confirm that it is Boeing because of a confidential agreement.
"We happen to meet a lot of the criteria for the client," Jakeway said.
The company has said the new plant needs access to a 24-hour port, rail lines and highways capable of handling heavy loads. It also needs a suitable runway.
"Ohio has a lot of good finance programs for various pieces of a deal," he said. "The state is hungry for a good deal."