< Previous page

The problem is just how modest the incentives are, said Joseph Coletti, a fiscal policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation. The state's package is a drop in the bucket for a company the size of Honda, and couldn't have been a deciding factor in the deal, he said.

"If you haven't given them that much, what's the point of the incentive except to impoverish the people of North Carolina?" he said. The state "could have spent that money someplace where there was actually a need."

It's true that $1.4 million in local incentives won't make or break a deal, but they show the Triad's commitment to a project that could be more important to the region than Dell or Google, Lynch said.

And Smith says Honda didn't ask for more money than necessary to cover infrastructure improvements such as road changes and grading. Any other location would have offered the same incentives, he said.

Honda has had a research and development facility in Greensboro since 2001. It occupies a 32,000-square-foot hangar and office complex at the airport and has 50 employees.

Honda Aircraft will begin construction immediately on the 215,000-square-foot headquarters, which will include 68,000 square feet of office space and a 147,000-square-foot hangar where it will assemble jets for testing and certification by the Federal Aviation Administration. The $60 million initial phase is expected to be complete in November. State officials expect construction on the second phase to begin in 2008.

Smith said Honda would announce details about the adjacent 150,000-square-foot production facility soon.

Honda expects to deliver the first jets to customers in 2010.

Honda already has a major manufacturing facility in Alamance County, producing general purpose engines, lawn mowers and other power equipment products. The $188 million facility has 580 employees.

(Staff writer Jonathan Cox contributed to this report.)

< Previous page