Oklahoma City's Economic Development Trust on Tuesday authorized its staff to begin negotiating a formal agreement with a regional airline to open a maintenance center here.

The trust authorized a start of negotiations on a $2 million economic incentive deal with SkyWest Airlines Inc. to bring the maintenance center to town.

To qualify for the incentive, SkyWest will be obligated to create at least 375 jobs within five years and generate a payroll of about $23 million by the end of the center's third year of operation.

The total estimated economic impact of the SkyWest deal is more than $327 million during its first three years of operation, including capital investments, wages, state and local taxes, trust officials said.

If an agreement is reached, SkyWest will build a 135,000-square-foot maintenance building on Will Rogers World Airport's east side as part of the airport's Lariat Landing project.

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