Gov. Brian Kemp Hopes New Tax Break Will Lure Defense Jobs

A major defense contractor hosted Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday to thank him for a new tax break that could be worth more than $50 million.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed and the Republican governor signed a law that would expand the tax breaks available to “high-impact aerospace defense” projects in hopes of aiding a bid for new defense projects at the Marietta plant operated by Lockheed Martin Corp.

Then-Rep. Bert Reeves told lawmakers at the time that Maryland-based Lockheed Martin hoped to bid to build all or part of a new generation of military jets at the Cobb County plant, which opened in 1943 to build bombers and was taken over by Lockheed in 1951. Today the 4,500-employee complex builds C-130J military transport aircraft and assembles fuselages for F-35 fighters that are finished elsewhere.