(Radio Iowa) – A top official says Iowa was among three finalists for a very large aviation company’s expansion project that would have qualified for new state incentives under Iowa’s “Major Economic Growth Attraction” or MEGA program. Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham says while that company chose another state for its expansion, the competition made it clear a thousand acre site next to the Eastern Iowa Airport would be prime property for an aviation-related project. “They’ve got all kinds of investments that they’ve been making in fuel farms and hangers,” Durham says, “and they even have plans for a third runway.” Durham says the other selling point is the property could provide direct access to the airport, which is just west of Interstate 380 on the south side of Cedar Rapids.

The state’s largest commercial airport is located in Des Moines, but Durham says the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids has closer connections to companies that support the aerospace industry. “We do have Collins right there in the backyard and BAE,” Durham says, “but we also have a lot of suppliers.” Collins Aerospace employs about nine-thousand people in Iowa, most of whom work in its Cedar Rapids facility. B-A-E Systems has a manufacturing plant in Cedar Rapids that makes G-P-S systems for the military. Durham says those two main companies, along with aerospace industry suppliers nearby make up a “mini-cluster” and the site near the Eastern Iowa Airport could help grow that sector of the state’s economy.

Durham did not disclose which company was considering an expansion in Iowa, but Boeing recently announced a one BILLION dollar investment in South Carolina and JetZero selected North Carolina for its four BILLION dollar airplane manufacturing hub. Both investments would have qualified for Iowa’s new economic development incentive package for so-called MEGA projects.