SEATTLE — Gov. Gary Locke said Monday that nothing the state or city could do would persuade the Boeing Co. to keep its headquarters in Seattle, its corporate home of 85 years.
"It's not the level of taxes, the business climate. They were very clear that no amount of concessions, no amount of changes in the state of Washington would lead them to keep their corporate headquarters here," Locke said Monday after meeting with Boeing Chairman Phil Condit and other company executives.
The aerospace giant announced last week it would move its corporate headquarters from Seattle, where it was founded in 1916, and consider relocating to Denver, Chicago or Dallas.
Locke said Boeing executives are adamant that the headquarters, which employs 1,000 in Seattle and will have a staff of about half that after the move, not be located in the same city as any of the company's large divisions. Boeing's Commercial Airplanes division, headed by Alan Mulally, is centered in the Seattle area and employs nearly 80,000.
"For commercial aircraft to really grow, to prosper, it is important that Alan Mulally be separate so that commercial aircraft is not overshadowed by corporate headquarters," Locke said.
Locke said Condit and Mulally, who also attended the meeting, "indicated in strong terms that they intend to keep the commercial aircraft division headquartered here and to keep as many jobs here as possible."