Boeing Opens $200M Composite Parts Plant in St. Louis

American aircraft maker Boeing opened a $200 million factory Thursday in St. Louis to build composite parts for the company’s new 777X commercial jet aircraft. Manufacturing of composite wing and empennage parts at the Boeing Composite Center of Excellence at 424,000-sq-ft facility will begin in early 2017, according to a Boeing press release.

“Boeing has had a presence in St. Louis for nearly 80 years. We’ve built more than 12,000 fighter jets here,” Bob Ciesla, vice president and the program manager of Boeing’s 777X work in St. Louis, said in a statement. “With the opening of this new composite center, our well-trained, high-quality workforce is able to demonstrate its versatility and expertise, positioning our region for additional commercial and defense work in the future.”

Boeing has invested $200 in constructing the plant, and plans on contributing $100 million more to purchase equipment and for tooling, according to a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Thursday. The 777Xs model, assembled at an Everett, WA plant, is expected to roll out for delivery in 2020.

The expansion of the company’s St. Louis campus is expected to generate about 700 jobs, which Boeing said is a “visible representation” of its “efforts to diversify and grow” its operations in the St. Louis-area.

 A previous Post-Dispatch article noted that Boeing plans on installing five autoclaves to help produce composites in the new facility, which can be used for military and commercial aircraft.