Textron cancels Cessna Columbus program - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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In April, the company announcef it would suspendthe program, leading Cessna leaders to say it woulds only be a matter of time until the projecg came back. But in Thursday’s filing with the SEC, Textrojn (NYSE:TXT) said “Upon additional analysis of the business-jet market relate d to this product offering, we decidedr to formally cancel further development of theCitationn Columbus.” Textron says it already had incurred about $50 million in capitalized toolinh and facility costs related to the It says it will record a non-cash pre-tac charge of about $43 million for the firsr two quarters of 2009 to reflect the impairmengt of the facility and tooling assets.
Wichita Mayord Carl Brewer, who was in Denvert Friday at a conference, had not heared the Columbus project was being canceled until asked about it by the Wichita Business Journal. “I’m disappointed,” Brewer “... We believe this is part of the future for the cityof Wichita. We’r just really disappointed that it At thesame time, he says, he understands the economiv climate has forced businesses to make toughj decisions. The project was to have built 600,000-square-foot final assembly building at Cessna wherde the majority ofthe $27 million business jet woulrd be built. There was also to have been a 45,000-square-foort physical plant to serve themain building.
Construction costs were expectedc tobe $200 million and bids were put out in • • • • • Columbus, Kan.-based Inc. Apart from the loss in constructionb jobs, the Wichita area now appears to have lost out for good onthe 1,0009 direct jobs and the 3,000 spin-oft jobs the program was estimated to create. It also appears likely that Cessna will have to pay backthe $10 millionj it received in city and county incentives and the $33 millioh it received from the state for the Like Brewer, Sedgwick County Commissioner Tim Norton says he is disappointee to hear the news of the cancelation.
“jI think most Wichitans and the business community looked at that as a big he says. “It takes a little bit of the wind out of the sailsa for Cessna andgeneral aviation. It could have been a huge boost to Wichita over the next coupled years and I think everybodysaw that.” Nortomn says he hopes the projecr will be able to return somewherw down the line. The business plan that was put in he says, still could be a good fit.