Piper deal may shape area's future

Aircraft plant would be one of area's largest employers
By Steve Liner DEMOCRAT BUSINESS EDITOR

Should the aircraft manufacturer of "Project Osprey," Piper Aircraft, ultimately choose Tallahassee, one of five finalists, it will be the biggest economic and community-development news in many years.

Consider:

With 1,500 employees - most recruited and hired within Leon and its contiguous counties - the company becomes instantly one of the area's largest employers and a key player in defining the region's economic future.

On city land, occupying buildings constructed for it by the city and possessed of cash incentives at least from local government and quite likely, the state of Florida, Project Osprey will come at a price paid by a hefty public investment.

Read more about how this community became a project finalist here.