Who put the bomb in the Bombardier?

Who put the TIF in the tax increment financing?

Since Bombardier pulled out of plans for a jet factory at Kansas City International Airport, we’re left wondering if we ever stood a chance.

For a moment, we were dancing in the arms of the aerospace industry and dreaming of flying high happily ever after.

Then those slippery French Canadians turned a fast one and dumped us faster than you can say, “eh.”

They’re probably up there eating their fancy ham they call “bacon” and drinking ginger ale and laughing at the rubes in Missouri.

Was Bombardier ever seriously considering building a plane factory near KCI? I think they were.

But it stings to think the executives may have played the Missouri Legislature just to negotiate for a better deal north of the border.

Cynics all along claimed that was the case. Still, the state put up a good-faith effort to assemble a creative incentive package to give Montreal a good run for its money.

Maybe the jet plant was just a pie in the sky. But better to shoot for the moon, the old saying goes, and miss than to aim for a cow pie and hit it.

Missouri emerges from the Bombardier attempt free of manure splatters and also well equipped to take aim at the next lunar object.

Kansas City received international attention during the process and likely raised its profile, particularly among aerospace companies. Next time one of them goes looking for a new place to build, Kansas City is likely to be on the list.

Economic development officials from Kansas City, St. Joseph and the state worked together closely during the process. That teamwork is sure to pay off in the future, whether recruiting new jobs or keeping existing ones afloat.

St. Joe was excited about Bombardier on two possibilities: Residents could commute to jobs there and suppliers would build factories in Buchanan County.

It’s logical thinking, but the potential may have been overrated. When Triumph Foods built its pork processing plant, talk abounded about supporting businesses springing up in the stockyards. So far, the area is home to biofuels plants and lots of cowpies, but short on sausage factories and pizza processors.

So Bombardier seems to have been a spring fling and nothing more. It’s just as well. No one knew how to say that name anyway.

Business editor Susan Mires can be

reached at susanm@npgco.com.