Mission accomplished: Missouri trade mission to France expected to pay off

(Missourinet) Fresh off a trade mission to France, Governor Mike Kehoe says he expects deals to be made as a result of the trip. He says the focus was to boost business for Missouri’s aerospace industry.

“The focus was the Paris Air Show,” says Kehoe. “It’s a fantastic display of our aerospace industry and obviously Missouri’s economy has a very large footprint of aerospace manufacturers and more importantly suppliers. So we went over there to meet with Boeing and other companies that are in the aerospace industry.”

Kehoe says St. Louis-based Boeing has been awarded two major fighter jet contracts (with its new contract with the F-47 and an existing announcement with the new trainer, the G7A), which will lead to the company being Missouri’s largest employer in three to four years.

He went on to say Missouri is inviting, “Mainly with companies that are looking to come in here as a result of our aerospace industry and a few other industries that we talked to over there. We had quite a few very productive meetings where we have ongoing conversations and projects working with some companies that want to move to Missouri.”.

According to Missouri Partnership, a public-private economic development organization, the state has more than 100 aerospace manufacturers, including St. Louis-based Boeing.

The trade mission to France was paid for by the Hawthorne Foundation, a Missouri nonprofit organization.