The Lowcountry’s dream of becoming an epicenter of the nation’s aviation industry came a step closer to reality on June 8, with the official opening of the massive Vought Aircraft Industries plant adjacent to Charleston International Airport.

The 342,000-square-foot building is part of a $560 million industrial complex that will build major fuselage sections for the Boeing Co.’s new 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Orders for the aircraft now stand at 410 from 30 customers, a Boeing official said.

In fact, the company reports that it has already sold out for its first two years of production and slots in 2011 are filling up fast.

As a result of the incredible demand for the new airliner, Vought officials at the plant’s ribbon cutting said the projected number of workers at the plant has already grown from the originally planned 600 to an anticipated 750, each of whom will earn $40,000 or more annually.

With so much pressure to get the production of the aircraft underway, Vought officials were particularly pleased that the plant was built in just a year and nine days, said Mark Dickey, the plant’s general manager.

Much of the credit for that accomplishment was given to the Charles “Newt” Newton, Vought’s South Carolina project manager, and the business-friendly assistance of the city of North Charleston.

Gov. Mark Sanford, just one of a score of the dignitaries on hand, said the vast facility is the second-largest single industrial investment in South Carolina since BMW built its manufacturing plant in Spartanburg County in the early 1990s.

“It’s interesting to look around and think about the size of the investment and the number of jobs this plant will generate but, ultimately, this is the culmination of a lot of dreams of a whole bunch of folks,” Sanford said.

But, the governor continued, the fulfillment of dreams is just the starting point when it comes to economic development.

“You can’t outproduce China or India unless you leverage the capacity of the workers of South Carolina through the application of technology,” he said. “While this is a day of celebration, I hope it also serves as a reminder to entrepreneurs throughout the state that if you are going to add to the standard of living here, you have to outproduce somebody, someplace else. What they have done here is produce a better mouse trap.”

A better mousetrap

In this case, that better mousetrap is a facility that will create the new fuselage sections out of a carbon composite material that will be both lighter than the aluminum used in existing commercial aircraft, and large enough so that fewer bolts will be required to piece the aircraft together.

“With the opening of this facility, Charleston County puts itself in the center of the aviation universe,” said Leon Stravinakis, chairman of the county council. “Charleston is going to be a key player in the new era of aviation.”

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said the entry of Vought and its partner in the Boeing endeavor, Alenia North America, is a particular coup for the region because “this is an industry that’s still growing.”

“As a result, I believe we will see as yet unimagined spinoffs from the activity that takes place here,” Riley continued. “Processes here will lead to ancillary activities that will have enormous benefits for the entire region.”

Reason, no doubt, that even those who don’t presently have a direct stake in the opening of the plant seemed excited about the possibilities it represents. Among those was Bernard S. Groseclose Jr., president and CEO of the South Carolina State Ports Authority.

Because Boeing, Vought and Alenia will be transporting fuselage sections and supplies by air, the Port of Charleston won’t have a role in the initial manufacturing process.

“But we don’t have to handle them all,” Groseclose said. “In this economic development situation, what’s important for us is that this is good for other businesses in the region. The other thing is, a development like this is ripe with possibilities we haven’t even thought of and it may well be that future suppliers will be bringing containerized cargo through the port.”

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said the city’s hope is that the opening of the Vought plant is merely “the start of more things to come.”

“Vought and Alenia have shown a great deal of faith in the area by making this investment in our community, and I believe more aviation companies, suppliers and the like are beginning to see the wisdom of that decision,” he said.

Asked if North Charleston has gotten feelers from other aviation-related companies, Summey said the city has been “both the feeler and the feelee in recent months.”

Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmccue@charlestonbusiness.com.

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