If the Boeing Co. decides this month to build its Dreamliner 7E7 aircraft, South Carolina hopes to be part of that dream.

State officials have said little publicly about their pursuit of the Boeing plant since June, when Gov. Mark Sanford and Secretary of Commerce Bob Faith acknowledged that the state was going after the project.

Sites in Charleston and on the Grand Strand apparently are competing for the project, but Charleston seems to be the clear in-state front-runner.

Boeing officials will not comment on the site selection process.

Company spokeswoman Mary Hanson said Boeing hopes to get authorization from its board of directors by the end of this year to begin offering the Dreamliner to customers. The board is scheduled to meet before year’s end, she said.

Selection of the assembly site could then come before year’s end or early in 2004 Hanson said.

While South Carolina hopes to win the bid for the $900 million investment that could bring up to 1,200 jobs, its faces formidable competition.

North Carolina officials have said the Global Transpark near Kinston — along with sites in Charleston, Savannah, and Tulsa, Okla. — are all at the top of Boeing’s list. Boeing will not comment on any state’s chances.

Analysts also believe Boeing will give a hard look at its former corporate home of Everett, Wash., where it still has major manufacturing operations.

Boeing’s site selection consultant is Greenville-based McCallum Sweeney.

While that might be considered a plus for South Carolina’s chances, some economic developers feel that it can weigh against the state. Site consultants, they say, sometimes shy away from locations in their home states, fearing they will be accused of favoritism.

PLENTY OF CHOICES

The states touted as having the best chance to land the project all have a great deal to offer.

Oklahoma, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina all landed in the Top 10 list of probusiness states in a ranking compiled recently by the Chicago-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc. All but Oklahoma landed in the Top 10 of a similar survey of business climate done by Site Selection magazine.

Officials are not talking about South Carolina’s chances. David Ginn, head of the Charleston Regional Economic Development Alliance, refused to discuss anything about the Boeing project.

But an area around Charleston International Airport seems to be the favored S.C. site.

The airport shares two runways with Charleston Air Force Base. There is also plenty of undeveloped land: 500 acres in the Charleston International Commerce Park at the entrance to the airport.

Charleston also has a plus in its port, interstate and railway systems. Boeing wants to be near all of those transportation modes.

Charleston’s quality of life is also in its favor.

South Carolina’s reputation for low cost of doing business and outstanding worker training programs are plus factors as well.

A deal-breaker could be Boeing’s request for the competing states to help the company pay for a small fleet of huge transport planes. Based on the Boeing 747, the planes would cost at least $300 million.

Reach Jackson at (803) 771-8376 or jgackson@thestate.com