A renaissance in corporate jet travel and the rise of point-to-point passenger service make aircraft maintenance and repair a potent cluster in and of itself, according to Robert Pittman of Lockwood Greene. "That's a target industry a lot of communities are going after," he says. Rural airports with access to Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)-approved training and certification programs can position themselves for success. Shuttered defense installations also make good homes for these and other aerospace support operations, Pittman says. "BRAC [the Pentagon's Base Realignment and Closure process] can be a good news-bad news scenario for some communities."
      Six U.S. communities are courting NASA as the space agency seeks a location for its Shared Services Center (NSSC). The site will consolidate financial, procurement, HR and information technology support for all ten NASA field centers. At stake are 500-800 new jobs offering salaries averaging $60,000. Officials in Mississippi, home of Stennis Space Center, are hoping their convenient mid-South location along with the state's willingness to construct and lease back the facility will make a winning case. A pledge of $1 million in training funds from Louisiana, which expects to share richly in the economic rewards should NSSC find its way to Stennis, sweetens Mississippi's proposal further. "We feel we've got a strong shot at this," says Gray Swoope, C.O.O. of the Mississippi Development Authority.
      NASA expects final proposals by early November. A four- to six-month evaluation process will identify the proposal that best meets NSSC's requirements and offers the best value, says NSSC Director Rick Arbuthnot. "Selection and contract award are currently scheduled for early May 2005." Also in the running are Huntsville, Ala., Houston, Orlando, Cleveland and Newport News, Va.

Contributing writer Lawrence Bivins is based in Raleigh, N.C.