Quinn for Illinois

"That's great," said Millstadt resident Angela Dickerson. "That's 75 people that can get out of here and start over. I hope they do because we need help bad."

Dickerson has worked as an accountant on and off for the past 20 years and has been laid off three times in the last seven years. She has been out of work for the past 12 months and is going back to school to become a veterinary technician.

"I've gone on interviews, I can't get (a job), so I'm going back to school," she said. "There's nothing out there."

Belleville resident Jermaine Hardy, who has gone back to school to be a heating and cooling technician, said he is encouraged to see a company like Boeing bring jobs to the area.

"I think it's great if you qualify to work at a place like that," Hardy said. "There's a possibility I could get a job there. You never know. It's good for the community."

"I hope a lot of us who are looking for jobs get them," said Kimberly Lovett, also of Belleville. "We need more than 75, but hey, some is better than nothing."

"I hope they come," Dickerson said. "We need major help."

Local economic leaders also look forward to any additional economic development that Boeing's presence could bring. Mike Lundy, executive director of Southwestern Illinois Development Authority, a special-purpose governmental financing and economic development agency for Madison and St. Clair counties, said Boeing's arrival gives credence to an airport that has struggled to maintain passenger service and has lost millions in operating costs in recent years.

"I know there's been a lot of nay-sayers, but to land Boeing is going to be a huge benefit for years to come," Lundy said. "To get them to locate in our region, it just solidifies what is going and it puts MidAmerica on the map and is going to move it forward. There will be companies that will locate around here as this builds out. This is just fantastic."

Bob Lombardi, SWIDA's board chairman, said Boeing's new manufacturing site is a seed that will continuously grow and expand into further economic development.

"I don't think that we're even anywhere near the surface to where it's leading us to because of what this is and what it is going to grow to," Lombardi said. "It's just great for the area."

Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois Executive Director Patrick McKeehan, whose economic development corporation serves Madison and St. Clair counties, believes Boeing is making a long-term commitment in the metro-east. He also said as contracts grow within the aviation company's new local operation, so will economic opportunities.

"We see a huge upside to this project," McKeehan said. "This is tremendous news at a time when we need good news; this type of good news for our region."

McKeehan's predecessor, Jim Pennekamp, now executive director of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's University Park, said Boeing is a good fit for the region because of the available airport space and its proximity to its world headquarters and operations in St. Louis.

"It's perfect," Pennekamp said. "The headquarters are in Chicago, assembly facilities are over in Missouri, and now they're in Illinois at a fantastic aviation facility. This is what we've been waiting for."