Governor Mark Parkinson and Bombardier Aerospace announced a formal agreement to secure the Bombardier Learjet site in Wichita for the Learjet 85* aircraft project, retaining existing operations and creating hundreds of additional jobs associated with the program’s $600 million investment. Governor Parkinson announced the agreement between the State of Kansas and Bombardier Learjet with the company’s Business Aircraft President, Steve Ridolfi, at an event with Bombardier employees in Wichita today.

“This is great news for Wichita and the entire state as we continue to further our economic recovery in Kansas. The agreement reached is a responsible investment that will not only keep the hard-working employees of Bombardier, but also create jobs and promote our state’s rich aviation industry,” said Parkinson. “I appreciate the hard work of Secretary Bill Thornton and the entire team at the Kansas Department of Commerce, as well as the local city and county officials that helped make this agreement possible. Through collaboration we continue to make Kansas a great place to do business and I hope to build upon this success.”

The agreement with Bombardier Learjet includes $27 million in bond financing from the State of Kansas per the Economic Recovery and Revitalization Act, which allows bond financing for eligible aviation projects that create at least $500 million in investment. Companies utilizing the financing repay bonds through withholding taxes from new and existing employees. The State Finance Council must approve the bond financing.

As part of the agreement, Bombardier Learjet will secure Learjet 85 aircraft production and delivery in Wichita and add at least 300 new employees over the life of the program.

The agreement with the State secures Bombardier Learjet to invest $600 million in the Learjet 85 program in Wichita. The Learjet site will utilize the $27 million in bond financing from the State to include an all-new paint facility, customer delivery center, production flight test facility and expanded production hangars for the final assembly of the Learjet 85 midsize jet – the largest, fastest, longest-range Learjet aircraft to date. In total, approximately 600 jobs will be associated with the Learjet 85 aircraft project in Wichita.

The governor reached the agreement with senior executives from Bombardier, including its President and Chief Operating Officer, Guy C. Hachey, Business Aircraft President Steve Ridolfi and Vice-President and General Manager, Learjet, David Coleal last week while at the Farnborough International Airshow. The governor attended the Airshow to promote the Kansas aviation industry and encourage investment in Kansas by global aviation companies.

The plant stores, prepares, crushes and extracts oil from soybeans. Cargill has soybean meal and soybean oil customers throughout Kansas and the region as well as export markets.

“This project will improve efficiencies and insure reliability of Cargill’s service to its animal feeding and soybean oil customers for years to come,” said Cary Humphries, general manager of the Cargill Grain & Oilseed Supply Chain facility. “We intend to have the improvements made in time for the 2010 fall soybean harvest.”

Cargill employs 45 people at the facility and more than 1,250 in Wichita.

“We are fortunate as a community to have Cargill as a leading business and corporate citizen,” said Mayor Carl Brewer. “We are eager to have them invest in all their operations here and are glad they are choosing to upgrade the oilseed plant.”

Sedgwick County Chairman Karl Peterjohn said, “Helping our businesses remain competitive in today’s world and keeping them here is important to our community. As a successful, global company, Cargill has choices and we’re glad they chose Sedgwick County.”

The Greater Wichita Economic Development Coalition (GWEDC) has been working with Cargill on the retention project. Cargill may make use of tax-exempt Recovery Zone Facility Bonds from the state to help finance the project. It is working with the Kansas Department of Commerce and the City of Wichita and Sedgwick County on the bonds.

“This project reflects our commitment to our employees, customers and to Wichita, Sedgwick County and Kansas,” Humphries said. “This will help the plant remain competitive within the industry and within our organization.”

The original facility was built in 1940, and Cargill acquired it in 1961. Much of the soybean oil is processed at the Cargill Dressings, Sauces & Oils NA refinery at 1416 N. Barwise. Other Cargill businesses in Wichita are Horizon Milling and Cargill Meat Solutions.

On May 18, 2009, three years of effort by Via Christi Health System and Wichita State University researchers resulted Tuesday in the award of a one-year, $4 million grant that should extend to a five-year, $20 million grant to support the Center of Innovation for Biomaterials in Orthopaedic Research (CIBOR) in Wichita.

The grant from the Kansas Bioscience Authority to Via Christi and its partners will fund the development and commercialization of medical devices using the kinds of advanced composite materials already used by Wichita aviation manufacturers.  The grant is based on composites research developed by Via Christi Regional Medical Center through its Orthopaedic Research Institute and WSU through its National Institute for Aviation Research.

CIBOR's goals include:

• Rapid job creation to help the local and Kansas economies.
• Development of medical devices that can be quickly brought to market, such as surgical instruments, stretchers and operating tables that do not require a long FDA-approval process.
• Longer-term development of advanced implantable devices, such as artificial hips and knees.

"We are extremely excited about receiving funding for this unprecedented partnership among health care, aviation and research," said Michalene D. Maringer, president and CEO of the Via Christi Wichita Health Network. "It involves health care, as orthopaedic surgeons will be implanting the devices; aviation, as the composite materials that have worked so well in that industry will be used to make the implants; and the scientists from both industries, as they will be developing the techniques needed to grow new bone cells in the composite structures.

"Working with WSU and others," Maringer said, "we have the opportunity to revolutionize the quality of life for patients worldwide who need orthopaedic implants and at the same time provide an economic development platform that will serve our community here in Wichita for years to come."

Wichita State President Don Beggs said: "This achievement is a product of extraordinary teamwork between WSU and Via Christi and our partners at Kansas State, Pittsburg State, the Greater Wichita Economic Development Council and in the medical device industry. We believe that this will have a very significant positive impact on the Kansas economy."

Gary L. Miller, WSU provost and vice president for academic affairs and research, said: "The CIBOR is a clear win for Kansas and a national model for how university-industry partnerships can leverage translational and applied research for significant economic impact. We are extremely proud to be a part of this unique collaboration for Kansas."

Vicki Pratt Gerbino, president of GWEDC, said, "This is exactly the sort of transformative business development initiative we've been promoting for this region. CIBOR's efforts combine medical research with the composites expertise in this community and our skilled work force to introduce an entirely new product line – an absolute necessity for the long-term economic growth of this region."

The Kansas Bioscience Authority's decision to fund the grant was made unanimously by its board of directors, who were meeting in Atlanta in conjunction with the 2009 Bio International Conference.

The KBA meeting was attended by J. David McDonald, associate provost for research; Dr. Paul Wooley, research director of the Via Christi Orthopaedic Research Institute; and Michael Good, Via Christi director of research business operations.

Wooley, who is also a WSU professor, will lead CIBOR's research efforts.

"KBA's grant recognizes the value of composites in new medical devices and should lead to a significant new industry for Kansas," Wooley said. "The detailed and stringent KBA review process helped us create a plan to position Wichita as a world center of innovative medical device research and manufacturing."

McDonald said, "KBA board members were enthusiastic about the potential of this effort for job creation and product development. Our CIBOR team is very excited about this support from KBA and we're eager to turn our attention to implementation."