Honda seeks free site improvements

GREENSBORO - Honda must overcome several obstacles before it decides to create more than 400 new jobs and invest an additional $80-plus million at Piedmont Triad International Airport, a company official told the City Council on Tuesday night.

"Coming here is not without its challenges," said Tony Piazza, a vice president for American Honda Motor Co.

Piazza confirmed for the council that Honda could select PTI for a major, three-part expansion as it prepares to begin production of its $4.5 million HondaJet next year.

Topping the list of hurdles would be the $8.1 million needed for infrastructure improvements at the airport.

"As far as the community challenges, this is the biggest we face," Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance, said Wednesday. "There are a lot of people working to land this project."

Honda has asked the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority for the money to prepare land next to its headquarters for a possible maintenance and repair operation and a parts warehouse and distribution center.

But the authority has a limited budget for the site preparation and taxiway extensions that Honda wants.

Piazza said initial estimates put the cost of the site work at $10 million, but that number has been cut to $8 million. "That is still a significant cost," Piazza said.

But Henry Isaacson, chairman of the board of the airport authority, sounded optimistic that the money could be raised.

"I don't think it's insurmountable," he said. "We are going to work on that just as hard as we can."

Lynch said he has sought help from the state Department of Transportation's division of aviation and the state Department of Commerce, in addition to incentive requests to the city and county.

The Golden Leaf Foundation in Rocky Mount has approved a grant of $1 million to help with the airport work.

After a public hearing Tuesday night, the City Council unanimously approved a $523,750 incentive for Honda. Piazza said the money would be used to offset its lease payments at the airport and for site preparation there.

As for other challenges, Piazza said:

l The company has 200 acres in Loudon, Tenn., where it has built a large distribution center for auto parts. Extra space there could be used for the warehouse and distribution needs of HondaJet.

So far, the Tennessee site is PTI's only competition that Honda officials have identified.

l Current suppliers offer competitive prices for HondaJet components. But now, the company may want to make some of those parts - wings, windows and doors have been mentioned as possibilities - at PTI. The company is evaluating the cost-effectiveness of such a move.

Initially, Piazza said, the company only planned to build its new jet at the airport, not manufacture parts.

"Once we were in the community," Piazza said, "we found that the high quality of the workforce was capable of meeting that (manufacturing) demand. Further, bringing that work in house assures quality and performance."

Local officials have said the manufacturing part of Honda's plans would create more than 370 of the jobs at stake.

Piazza said the company already has 346 full-time personnel and 200 contract workers at PTI. In addition, 300 more would be added as the company ramps up jet production.

"What we are talking about," Piazza said, "is the chance to have Honda be one of the premier employers in this region - with employment approaching 1,000 people in just a few years - and our hope to contribute to creating a world-class aviation cluster in the Triad."

Piazza said no decisions have been made on what parts of the expansion will go where.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson @news-record.com

nThe $8.1 million project is a condition of Honda expanding here.