Did Triad win over Honda? We'll see

GREENSBORO - Now comes the waiting and the wondering.

What will Honda Aircraft decide and when will it decide it?

Will the jet maker elect to invest in a proposed, $80 million expansion of its HondaJet operation at Piedmont Triad International Airport?

Will the airport get all 419 jobs associated with the project? Will it get some of them? Or none?

Will the state come up with any financial assistance to help make the project possible?

What happens next?

"We have gotten the incentives behind us," Henry Isaacson, chairman of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, said Friday. "Now we move on to a different phase."

That phase involves finding the estimated $8 million needed for infrastructure improvements at the airport, where Honda has its headquarters and wants to expand.

To help that process, Isaacson said, airport officials have sought bids for the site preparation and taxiway extension needed to make the expansion possible.

Those numbers should be known by the middle of next month. Then, local officials will approach the aviation division of the North Carolina Department of Transportation to ask for financial assistance.

"They told us they would help us with the infrastructure," Isaacson said.

"They have indicated they would be waiting to find out what the project would cost."

Once Honda officials know the amount available, they will make a decision on how much of the three-part expansion to locate at PTI.

"Then it will be up to Honda," Isaacson said. "I think we will hear from them within 60 days of that point, maybe sooner."

Others have put the date at the end of September.

As for the company, no one will talk.

Stephen Keeney, a spokesman for Honda Aircraft, said in an email Thursday: "I'm afraid that we are not able to make any additional comments during our evaluative process beyond what has been stated in public presentations."

Those presentations were statements made by Honda officials at public hearings before the Greensboro City Council Aug. 16 and the Guilford County Board of Commissioners on Thursday.

Both voted to provide incentives for the project totaling $1.29 million.

Honda officials have said that money could be used to pay its lease at the airport or for site preparation at a 40-acre tract north of the company's headquarters.

The Golden Leaf Foundation in Rocky Mount has agreed to provide $1 million for infrastructure.

Finding the money to pay for those improvements would be a significant step in landing all three parts of Honda's expansion plans - a parts warehouse, a maintenance and repair building, and a manufacturing operation that would build jet components such as wings, doors and windows.

"If we take that concern off the table, we are on an apples-to-apples playing field," said City Council member Zack Matheny. "That puts us in a better spot than our competitors (for the projects)."

Matheny and others say Honda has given no assurances that they will expand at PTI, even if state and local governments provide the money needed for the site work.

But Melvin "Skip" Alston, chairman of the county commissioners, said he's assured in his own right.

"If I were a betting man, I'd bet they would come," Alston said. "I think they have too much invested in this area."

Staff Writer Taft Wireback contributed to this report.

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

nAirport and local officials are lining up aid packages, hoping the jet maker expands here.