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Gov. Greg Abbott, front, with Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, left, and Councilman Alan Blaylock, with the Tarrant County state delegation, Bell CEO Lisa Atherton, center right, and U.S. Rep.-elect Craig Goldman, back right.
Mere hours before his ill-fated trip east to Dallas in November 1963, President John Kennedy, along with Gov. John Connally, Lyndon Johnson, and Congressman Jim Wright, stepped in front of an enthusiastic crowd gathered in cold, wet weather to see him, waiting in a parking lot just south of the Hotel Texas.
His remarks were no doubt a rehearsal of sorts for what he almost certainly would have returned to say to the “great Western city” during the campaign season of 1964.
Fort Worth “has believed in strength in this city, and strength in this state, and strength in this country,” JFK said. “What we're trying to do in this country and what we're trying to do around the world, I believe, is quite simple, and that is to build a military structure which will defend the vital interests of the United States.”
While overlooking the city’s contributions in manpower and the Camp Bowie facility in World War I, the president did note Fort Worth lending a sizable hand in building the best bomber system in the world in WWII with the B-24 and later the B-58. He also made note of Fort Worth’s contributions in developing the best fighter system in the world, something it continues to this day in the F-16 and F-35.
“Fort Worth will play its proper part,” JFK said of continuing efforts to enhance the nation's defense in that era and those forthcoming.
Only slightly more than 12 years earlier, the then-Bell Helicopter made a $3 million investment to build four factory units in what would become a new headquarters in Fort Worth. The company said it would provide 2,000 jobs in transferring all of its multimillion-dollar helicopter operations to Texas.
So, it was on Monday that the company ensured Fort Worth would continue playing its proper part.
Bell, headquartered in Fort Worth, is making a $632 million investment in a new factory in AllianceTexas to build the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft, or FLRAA. The impact is an expected 520 full-time jobs at an average salary of $85,000 by the end of 2039.
The facility will be in a 448,000-square-foot site at 15100 N. Beach St.
“This project,” said Gov. Greg Abbott, “is transformative for the future of the state of Texas, our workforce, but maybe most importantly, it’s transformative for our United States military.”
The governor was joined by Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Bell CEO Lisa Atherton, U.S. Rep.-elect Craig Goldman, and state Sen. Kelly Hancock, among others in the Texas state delegation, to formally announce the project at the Bell Manufacturing Technology Center in north Fort Worth. When Bell won the FLRAA contract two years ago, military officials said over the long term the value of the contract could be as much as $70 billion. The initial estimates were $1.3 billion.
At present, Bell employs more than 4,000. The company earlier this year cut the ribbon on a $20 million facility in Arlington designed to test parts for developing helicopter fleets.
The Fort Worth City Council last week spoke for its citizens, doing its part to ensure Bell stayed home to fulfill the contract, approving incentives totaling more than $47 million. The company also applied for tax breaks through the state’s Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act program, the first time, according to reports, “JETI,” as it’s called, has been used.
The Army intends FLRAA to be the next generation of vertical-lift, assault, and intra-theater aeromedical evacuation aircraft. It is a medium-lift helicopter that will augment or replace a portion of the Army’s UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopter fleet. The Army intends FLRAA to provide Combat Aviation Brigades with long-range, high-speed utility aircraft.
It represents the next generation of Fort Worth playing its proper part — working to ensure the national interests are capably defended worldwide while also persisting in the quest for peace on earth.
And it will be built here.
Where it belongs.