Bartram
Brand HBCUbian
In the last 10 years Alabama and now Mississippi have come out of nowhere to establish themselves as players in the south's growing auto assembly industry which was once the domain of states that got their $hit together in the 70s (GA, TN, NC, KY, TX).
Plant Expansion Common in the South
Mississippi looks poised to land another big fish on the heels of Alabama's latest acquisition while Alabama is a finalist along with Michigan for a Hyundai research facility that would employ 300 design engineers. MS seems to really be getting after it these days. :eek2: GA still showing that it can pull as "the empire state of the south" with a recent truck manufacturer picking Savanah. I'm suprised South Carolina hasn't done more after it's initial shocking the world when it landed BMW.
Looks like the beat will go on according to this article though and the South looks to be right in the thick of things. Just a matter of which states will be the major players. I see Mississippi as fertile ground and Arkansas. The other states are beginning to fill up, but could land additional plants.
Auto plants
State backs auto plans for region
7/18/2003 10:35:29 PM
Daily Journal
BY GARY PERILLOUX
Daily Journal
PONTOTOC - A crucial $250,000 piece of the planning puzzle for Mississippi's next huge automotive manufacturer fell into place Friday.
Bill Renick, chief of staff for Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, committed the $250,000 for estimating costs of a 1,000-acre industrial site at the junction of Pontotoc, Lee and Union counties.
"People that are in the know have told me that with this information, you will be in the Top 10 sites in the nation," said Randy Kelley, executive director of the Three Rivers Planning and Development District. Three Rivers played host to a Friday meeting of leaders from the three counties. "I believe in the next five years you will get a big project."
Recently, Toyota and Hyundai passed on the site because of questions about its topography and access. Though no current prospect is locked up, a planning study of requirements to grade and prepare a site is considered essential to landing an automaker.
The planning process - aided early on by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Cook Coggin Engineers and the counties' boards of supervisors and mayors - should help industrial prospects visualize the area as a future automotive manufacturing hub.
Renick received the application for planning funds Thursday, met with Musgrove and Mississippi Development Authority chief Steve Hale and delivered the commitment in person to the three-county group Friday.
"This is a great idea you all have had and something I think is going to be very successful," Renick said. The money came from the Rural Economic Impact Authority created by the Legislature this year to take the red tape out of funding job-generating projects in the state. Hale's department can tap up to $10 million this year for such work.
The Nissan example
Nissan, which opened a $1.3 billion plant in Canton in May, has generated 30,000 direct and indirect jobs going to employees from 73 of Mississippi's 82 counties, Renick said.
"Don't be sick of Nissan," he said, addressing some criticisms around the state. "Nissan has told everybody that the state of Mississippi is a place you need to take a look at. It didn't used to be like that. ... Nissan being in Canton, Mississippi, is going to help us put something on this site you all are working on."
Supervisors in the three counties will need to match the $250,000 state contribution with only $10,000 each to produce a formal study by early next year, Kelley said.
The precise location of the site will remain under wraps in the development stage to facilitate the project, officials said. Supervisors next must ratify an agreement creating what will be called the PUL - or Pontotoc Union Lee - Alliance, which will embrace the slogan, "Pulling for jobs."
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad is examining ways to create rail access at the site, and consultant Location Advisory Services Inc. will represent the PUL Alliance in negotiations with automakers.
Tom Hill, a TVA engineer, said preliminary studies of the site show it can be rounded into form in much the same way Nissan's Canton site was and no floodplain issues exist.
"Definitely, you could put an automotive industry here," he said.
David Rumbarger, president of Lee County's Community Development Foundation, said he believes site preparation would cost less than the $95 million initial phase at Canton, where 400,000 vehicles a year will be produced.
Of 100 auto plants expected to be built worldwide in the next 15 years, 40 likely would be built in the United States, with 20 of those in the Southeast, Rumbarger said. DaimlerChrysler, Ford and Volkswagen Audi are reported to be looking for sites now.
Demand for data
Hyundai and Toyota wanted concrete data on the site's contours and costs that don't exist now, but the planning study will provide that information, Rumbarger said, with the strongest affirmation coming from a principal in Location Advisory Services.
"He said this is the kind of site that site selection consultants (for the automakers) would drool over if we can get the costs identified," Rumbarger said.
Ongoing efforts of the PUL Alliance will be determined by its board, which will consist of two supervisors from each county and the mayors of the largest cities in each county. Officers of the group will be selected at its first formal meeting, and costs will be shared equally by the counties.
While the state's incentive cost for Nissan was $69,000 per job, Madison County's incentive cost was only $3,800. Should a concrete automotive project emerge, the three counties would share the cost of bond issues at the local level to supplement major funding from the state and federal governments.
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 7/19/2003 8:00:00 AM, section A , page 1
Plant Expansion Common in the South
Mississippi looks poised to land another big fish on the heels of Alabama's latest acquisition while Alabama is a finalist along with Michigan for a Hyundai research facility that would employ 300 design engineers. MS seems to really be getting after it these days. :eek2: GA still showing that it can pull as "the empire state of the south" with a recent truck manufacturer picking Savanah. I'm suprised South Carolina hasn't done more after it's initial shocking the world when it landed BMW.
Looks like the beat will go on according to this article though and the South looks to be right in the thick of things. Just a matter of which states will be the major players. I see Mississippi as fertile ground and Arkansas. The other states are beginning to fill up, but could land additional plants.
Auto plants
State backs auto plans for region
7/18/2003 10:35:29 PM
Daily Journal
BY GARY PERILLOUX
Daily Journal
PONTOTOC - A crucial $250,000 piece of the planning puzzle for Mississippi's next huge automotive manufacturer fell into place Friday.
Bill Renick, chief of staff for Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, committed the $250,000 for estimating costs of a 1,000-acre industrial site at the junction of Pontotoc, Lee and Union counties.
"People that are in the know have told me that with this information, you will be in the Top 10 sites in the nation," said Randy Kelley, executive director of the Three Rivers Planning and Development District. Three Rivers played host to a Friday meeting of leaders from the three counties. "I believe in the next five years you will get a big project."
Recently, Toyota and Hyundai passed on the site because of questions about its topography and access. Though no current prospect is locked up, a planning study of requirements to grade and prepare a site is considered essential to landing an automaker.
The planning process - aided early on by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Cook Coggin Engineers and the counties' boards of supervisors and mayors - should help industrial prospects visualize the area as a future automotive manufacturing hub.
Renick received the application for planning funds Thursday, met with Musgrove and Mississippi Development Authority chief Steve Hale and delivered the commitment in person to the three-county group Friday.
"This is a great idea you all have had and something I think is going to be very successful," Renick said. The money came from the Rural Economic Impact Authority created by the Legislature this year to take the red tape out of funding job-generating projects in the state. Hale's department can tap up to $10 million this year for such work.
The Nissan example
Nissan, which opened a $1.3 billion plant in Canton in May, has generated 30,000 direct and indirect jobs going to employees from 73 of Mississippi's 82 counties, Renick said.
"Don't be sick of Nissan," he said, addressing some criticisms around the state. "Nissan has told everybody that the state of Mississippi is a place you need to take a look at. It didn't used to be like that. ... Nissan being in Canton, Mississippi, is going to help us put something on this site you all are working on."
Supervisors in the three counties will need to match the $250,000 state contribution with only $10,000 each to produce a formal study by early next year, Kelley said.
The precise location of the site will remain under wraps in the development stage to facilitate the project, officials said. Supervisors next must ratify an agreement creating what will be called the PUL - or Pontotoc Union Lee - Alliance, which will embrace the slogan, "Pulling for jobs."
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad is examining ways to create rail access at the site, and consultant Location Advisory Services Inc. will represent the PUL Alliance in negotiations with automakers.
Tom Hill, a TVA engineer, said preliminary studies of the site show it can be rounded into form in much the same way Nissan's Canton site was and no floodplain issues exist.
"Definitely, you could put an automotive industry here," he said.
David Rumbarger, president of Lee County's Community Development Foundation, said he believes site preparation would cost less than the $95 million initial phase at Canton, where 400,000 vehicles a year will be produced.
Of 100 auto plants expected to be built worldwide in the next 15 years, 40 likely would be built in the United States, with 20 of those in the Southeast, Rumbarger said. DaimlerChrysler, Ford and Volkswagen Audi are reported to be looking for sites now.
Demand for data
Hyundai and Toyota wanted concrete data on the site's contours and costs that don't exist now, but the planning study will provide that information, Rumbarger said, with the strongest affirmation coming from a principal in Location Advisory Services.
"He said this is the kind of site that site selection consultants (for the automakers) would drool over if we can get the costs identified," Rumbarger said.
Ongoing efforts of the PUL Alliance will be determined by its board, which will consist of two supervisors from each county and the mayors of the largest cities in each county. Officers of the group will be selected at its first formal meeting, and costs will be shared equally by the counties.
While the state's incentive cost for Nissan was $69,000 per job, Madison County's incentive cost was only $3,800. Should a concrete automotive project emerge, the three counties would share the cost of bond issues at the local level to supplement major funding from the state and federal governments.
Appeared originally in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 7/19/2003 8:00:00 AM, section A , page 1
