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Trump Says Lockheed CEO Has Agreed to Keep Helicopter Plant Open

Trump Says Lockheed CEO Has Agreed to Keep Helicopter Plant Open

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump said Wednesday night that the chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp. had agreed to keep a helicopter plant in Pennsylvania open.

“I was just informed by Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin, of her decision to keep the Sikorsky Helicopter Plant in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, open and humming! We are very proud of Pennsylvania and the people who work there,” Trump tweeted.

Trump Says Lockheed CEO Has Agreed to Keep Helicopter Plant Open

The company announced early last month that it would shut down its Sikorsky plant in Coatesville. Trump tweeted at the time that he had spoken with Hewson about keeping the plant in operation and that she would “be taking it under advisement.”

“At the request of President Trump, I took another look at our decision to close the Coatesville, PA facility and have decided to keep it open while we pursue additional work,” Hewson said in a statement released by Lockheed Martin on Wednesday night.

“It’s a good operation with an excellent workforce,” she added. “We look forward to working with the government and PA Congressional delegation to find more work for this facility.”

Trump hasn’t been reluctant in demanding that executives reverse plans to close factories and plants -- particularly in states crucial to his 2020 re-election bid.

Some 465 people work at the Sikorsky plant in Coatesville, which is involved in production of the S-92 & S-76, as well as work on the Canadian Maritime Helicopter Program, according to Callie Ferrari, a company spokeswoman.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Harney in Washington at jharney2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Shepard at mshepard7@bloomberg.net, John Harney, Karen Leigh

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.