Chuck Sweeny: What's behind the Rockford airport MRO funding mess with the state of Illinois? - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

By Chuck Sweeny
Staff writer

Posted Sep. 9, 2015 at 7:41 PM
Updated at 8:04 PM

This is the first of two parts.

Today and Saturday I'll address why the state of Illinois is balking at paying $15 million it promised in 2014 to Chicago Rockford International Airport for a massive, $40 million project expected to create 500 well-paying jobs, ramping up to 1,000 or more jobs in a few years.

These skilled jobs will be in a new maintenance, repair and overhaul facility to be run by AAR Corp. of Wood Dale. The facility, known as an MRO, will be large enough to work on some of the biggest jets flying.

The state promised $16.3 million in 2014 and made an initial payment of $1.3 million. Everything seemed to be on track, at least to reimburse the airport for $10.3 million it spent on the project in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

The old buildings on the site have been demolished, and the foundation for AAR's two 9 1/2-story hangars is nearly ready. The hangars have been ordered from Rubb Building Systems of Sanford, Maine. They are to be delivered in pieces and assembled on the construction site. Target opening date is mid-2016.

Now it appears the state is trying to quash further reimbursement by saying the airport didn't send in some paperwork on time, an excuse I find eyebrow-raising at best. Money is tight because the governor and Democrats who control the Legislature can't agree on a new budget.

On Aug. 5, I wrote a column addressed as an open letter to Gov. Bruce Rauner. I reminded the governor that the airport needed at least $8 million to $9 million to keep the project moving along. The city of Rockford, Winnebago County, Loves Park, the federal government and airport authority are also funding the building along with the state of Illinois. In conjunction with the AAR project, Rock Valley College has built and is operating an expanded aviation technology program at the airport that will provide graduates for AAR and other aerospace companies in our growing aerospace cluster.

After the column appeared, I asked airport Director Mike Dunn if he'd heard from the state. He told me an official of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity had called to reassure him that DCEO remained fully supportive, and that the project had been sent over to the governor's legal department.

When I called him again last Friday, Dunn said he had been told that the project was now in the governor's office.

With the Labor Day weekend approaching, we had three days of editorial pages to fill, and decided to re-emphasize what I'd said in my column, but in an editorial opinion. I got to work repurposing the letter to the governor into an editorial that represents the Editorial Board's opinion. That editorial ran Tuesday.

Page 2 of 2 - The editorial made the same points as the column, but the state's response was different. Tuesday morning, Catherine Kelly, the governor's spokeswoman, called Wally Haas, the opinion editor, to tell him that the airport had been late with some needed paperwork. This would be out of character for the airport's staff, which I have found to have a reputation for punctuality and professionalism.

Kelly told Haas that what she said was "on background," so we weren't going to use it. Later, we were surprised to see a local TV station reporting the exact same information, attributed to Kelly. An "on-background" agreement is nullified when other media report the information.

I asked Dunn to respond. Dunn sent this: "The airport has been in communication with the governor’s office since January regarding the AAR project. This is the first time that any question regarding 'completed' paperwork has come up."

"There have been state senators, representatives, mayors, county chairman, congressman, and United States senators as well as AAR executives and airport officials who have had multiple conversations with the state and all have been told that this failure is a result of the budget impasse between the governor and the legislature.

"I find it unfortunate that staff from the governor’s office and DCEO find it necessary to include us as part of their political war. These funds were committed long before this budget year, and the state needs to meet and fulfill that commitment," Dunn said.

Saturday: The Springfield blame game is causing real damage to job creation in Rockford.

Chuck Sweeny: 815-987-1366; csweeny@rrstar.com; @chucksweeny

Chuck Sweeny: What's behind the Rockford airport MRO funding mess with the state of Illinois? - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL