Nixon, Mo., companies head to Paris Air Show

The companies accompanying Nixon are in the aviation business and looking for new customers overseas.

Gov. Jay Nixon is leading a Missouri delegation to the Paris Air Show.

The delegation left Friday, and will head from Paris to the United Kingdom, then Belgium and return to Missouri on June 22.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 14 Missouri companies and institutions are in the Missouri delegation to show, which is a massive aerospace trade exhibition.

Most of the companies joining Nixon on the trip are in the aviation business, including Boeing Co. and Clayton-based Sabreliner. They¹re looking for new customers overseas.

State officials say no taxpayer funds are being used on the trip. Delegation members are paying their own way. Travel costs for Nixon and his wife are covered by the Hawthorne Foundation, an economic development nonprofit group funded by private donations.