January 31, 2008
VW Plant Update
Officials with the German automaker Volkswagen continue to maintain that the company will break ground on a new U.S. plant in 2008 and it looks like -- if that is true -- a site near a port in Georgia, South Carolina or North Carolina is where it will happen. The Charleston, S.C. metro has a somewhat suitable site and the site in Georgia (the Pooler site), located near Savannah, already has $60 million in improvements in it. That site is ready for any large manufacturer.
But there is one site few people are talking about regarding the VW site search. The site is one Toyota looked at more than a year ago.
There is a 1,500-acre-plus tract located just south of Emporia, Va., and right on I-95, near the Virginia-North Carolina border. That site would naturally be a fit for VW since it recently relocated its North American headquarters to Fairfax, Va.
It should be noted that Nissan recently relocated its North American headquarters to Nashville, a state where its largest U.S. manufacturing plant is located and its second-largest U.S. plant is down the road in Jackson, Miss. Nissan officials claimed that the move was “to be closer to our manufacturing operations in the Southern Auto Corridor and to cut costs.”
Our question then is this: Was the VW relocation of its headquarters a double deal? In other words, VW relocates its HQ to Virginia and they place their first U.S. assembly plant in 20 years in the Old Dominion State as well?
One more thing to note: Throughout my travels recently in North Carolina and Virginia there has been more than one mention about the two states collaborating in an effort to land an auto plant. Since the site is on the two states’ borders, both would benefit from the employment and prosperity offered up by VW. A two state effort will always beat a single state effort when it comes to large automotive facilities.
Furthermore: I know Virginia economic development personnel. And I know North Carolina ED personnel. They are not a quiet bunch. But since the New Year began, they are all as quiet as sleeping mice. Hmm.
Michael C. Randle (Michael@sb-d.com)
South Carolina Lands Jet Engine Parts Plant
GE Aviation and the Sweden-based SKF Group announced in the winter quarter they are jointly opening a new plant in North Charleston, S.C. The facility will produce and repair bearings used in General Electric jet engines. The joint venture, called Venture Aerobearings LLC, is expected to be operational later this year in a new 127,000-square-foot building that is expected to house about 100 workers.
Bio-Fuels Plant Going up in Missouri
Producers' Choice Soy Energy is investing $15 million in an alternative fuels plant in Moberly, Mo. The company will create about 20 new jobs at the bio-fuels facility.
DOT Foods Expands in Maryland
DOT Foods, a re-distributor of food and non-food products, has completed its warehouse expansion in Williamsport, Md. The new distribution center adds 100,000 square feet of space, represents an investment of over $13 million and creates about 100 new jobs.
Goodrich Expanding in N.C.
Goodrich Corp. is investing almost $6 million to expand its customer service headquarters and maintenance facilities in Monroe, N.C. The Monroe facility provides maintenance and other services for commercial and military aircraft.
Company Relocating from LA to Rural Tennessee
HTI Technology and Industries is relocating its headquarters and production from Los Angeles to Lexington, Tenn, bringing more than 100 jobs to the rural Tennessee market. The company manufactures electric motors for appliances.
Alstom to Build New Plant in Chattanooga
Alstom, a global leader in power generation, announced in the winter quarter that is Power Systems Sector will invest in excess of $200 million in a new manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tenn. The deal will create about 350 new jobs. The company will produce steam turbines, gas turbines, generators and other equipment for use in U.S. power generation facilities.
Tale of Two Downtowns
Atlanta and Charlotte are stiff competitors when it comes to economic development, particularly in financial services, communications, headquarters and other white-collar industry sectors. Both markets are international hubs for commerce in the South, boasting two great airports and all of the amenities that can be found in global destination markets such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Atlanta is a much larger market than Charlotte, with 5.1 million residents. The Charlotte metro has a population of about 2.5 million residents. The differences in the two competitors don't end there. Their downtowns are very different as well. In January it was reported that downtown Atlanta had its best year since 2000 in office space absorption last year. Still, office vacancy in downtown Atlanta remains at about 25 percent. In stark contrast, downtown Charlotte's office vacancy rate is below 1 percent or essentially N/A (not available).
In an interesting twist to this tale of two downtowns, economic development officials in Charlotte are selling the area (Charlotte's suburbs have an office vacancy rate of 12 percent, so there is product there) to companies that have both Charlotte and Atlanta on their short lists. The sales pitch is as unique as we've seen.
Those officials claim that if you operate out of Charlotte, you can get to downtown Atlanta as fast or faster from Charlotte than you can from many suburbs of Atlanta. In other words, they maintain an executive can fly from the Charlotte airport to Atlanta's airport and be in downtown Atlanta faster than an executive can drive to downtown Atlanta from many of the swanky suburbs north of the city. Could it be that Atlanta's 25 percent office vacancy rate downtown and Charlotte's 1 percent office vacancy rate downtown are numbers that support that claim?
Michael C. Randle (michael@sb-d.com)
ViFAN Breaks Ground in Morristown, Tenn.
VIFAN USA, broke ground in the winter quarter on an addition to its current manufacturing facility in Morristown. The total investment for the project will reach $72 million in new building space and new production line equipment, resulting in the creation of 55 additional jobs. VIFAN produces biaxially oriented polypropylene sheet film for a variety of industry sectors. The Italy-based company current employs 124 workers at its Morristown facility.
Economic Development Publication Ranks States
Business Facilities, an economic development publication based in New Jersey, awarded its first "State of the Year" ranking, with Texas taking the first honor. Following Texas in the publication's ranking were Alabama, Michigan, Louisiana and Connecticut.
Verizon on Hiring Spree in Huntsville
Verizon Wireless is adding 600 more workers to its call center and state headquarters in Huntsville. The new hires will bring employment at Verizon's Huntsville facilities to about 1,500.
Boeing to Hire about 200 Workers for Ares 1 Rocket Deal
The Boeing Co., won NASA's Ares 1 rocket instrument unit guidance contract in the winter quarter and as a result, will hire 218 new workers at its facilities in Huntsville, Ala. The Ares 1 rocket program is expected to replace the space shuttle fleet as NASA's next generation space vehicle.
Vanity Fair Adding 200 Jobs in Monroeville, Ala.
Vanity Fair Brands is expanding its Monroeville, Ala., apparel plant. The deal will create about 200 jobs at a new and expanded distribution center in Monroeville.
Pine Bluff Poultry to Hire 300 in Arkansas
Pine Bluff Poultry announced in the winter quarter that it is purchasing the former Tyson Foods facility in Pine Bluff, Ark., and will hire 300 new workers. The company will also invest about $3 million to upgrade the poultry processing facility.
Southwestern Investing another $1 Billion in North-Central Arkansas
Houston-based Southwestern Energy Co., announced in late December it will invest another $1 billion in the Fayetteville Shale play. The company was credited for discovering the huge oil patch and has currently has 19 rigs operating at Fayetteville Shale. The expansion will include the tapping of 475 horizontal wells, up from the 400 wells it drilled in 2007.
Record Mark Set for Investments in Alabama
Over $6 billion was invested in Alabama in calendar year 2007, a record mark. From those investments, some 17,540 jobs are expected to be created. The $6.1 billion in investments topped the previous record of $4.7 billion set in 2005. One deal helped Alabama set the record year. ThyssenKrupp announced and has begun construction on its $3.7 billion steel plant located north of Mobile, Ala. That project has been reported as the largest single industrial project ever announced in the U.S.
Roche Expands in South Carolina
In the winter quarter Roche Carolina Inc., moved forward on the expansion of its pharmaceutical plant in Florence with a new investment of $60 million. The deal is expected to create about 25 new jobs.
ADP Expands Facility in Florence, S.C.
Automatic Data Processing, a provider of business outsourcing solutions such as pre-employment services, is adding 100 new workers at its facilities in Florence. The company already employs 450 at the Florence facility.
German Aircraft Co. Sets up Shop in Arkansas
Remos Aircraft GmbH, of Germany, announced in the winter it is locating an aircraft assembly operation at the Rogers, Ark., Municipal Airport. Remos will assemble light sport aircraft at a hanger at the airport. Parts will be flown in from Germany to produce the aircraft. About 20 workers are expected to be hired in the deal.
Atlanta Airport Again "World's Busiest"
In 2007 Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport saw 994,455 flight operations (take-offs and landings), making it the busiest airport in the world in that category. Chicago's O'Hare was second followed by Dallas/Fort Worth. The FAA said it is the third consecutive year that Atlanta had the most flight operations of any airport worldwide.
AirTran Expanding Orlando Operations
Atlanta is AirTran's largest airline hub but in the winter quarter, the discount airline made Orlando its permanent headquarters. The company announced it is putting in a new operations center at the Orlando International Airport where 121 new jobs will be created. The new $7 million hurricane-proof operations center will house about 400 workers, including top executives, crew schedulers, flight dispatchers and other employees.
Japanese Company Investing $100M in West Virginia
Kureha Corp., a producer of specialty plastics, is investing $100 million on a new plant that will be built on the site of DuPont's Belle, W.V. chemical plant. The new plant, which will employ about 50, will use a raw material made by DuPont.
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