[Flamesfanva]

By Bethany Fuller
bfuller@newsadvance.com / (434) 385-5531
April 21, 2006

Lynchburg-area officials have mixed feelings about the possibility of a Toyota plant coming to the Roanoke area.

While Toyota hasn’t officially announced any possible sites, The New York Times has reported that the company was scouting four Southern states for the site of its eighth North American assembly plant, including one near Roanoke.

Toyota, a Japanese manufacturer and the world’s second-largest automaker behind General Motors, needs a location with a capable workforce. The company has not released any specifics on employment.

If the plant were to locate near Roanoke, if could create new jobs for vendors and new business for local manufacturers.

Lee Cobb, director of Region 2000 Economic Development Council, said the Lynchburg area has a number of companies that manufacture automobile parts that would benefit from the plant.

Cobb said the presence of these companies could help attract a Toyota plant to the area.

But he said there is an employment issue that could have ramifications for the Lynchburg area.

At the Region 2000 Local Government Council on Thursday, Lynchburg City Manager Kimball Payne said local officials should consider whether they want a company of that size coming to the area.

“Are we prepared for a Toyota plant?” he asked the other officials.

Officials in the Lynchburg area are already looking at an employment shortfall within the next 30 months. Officials are expecting 5,000 jobs to be added to the Lynchburg market, while the number of unemployed workers is just above 4,000.

Payne did concede that the plant might be good news for other parts of the state, like Danville and the New River Valley.

Appomattox mayor Ronnie Spiggle said the area needs to keep a close eye on what officials think communities need, which tends to be young professionals, and not recruit jobs that would come from Toyota plants and Wal-Mart. “I think the Toyota plant is the wrong type of growth,” said Tom Messier, Bedford City mayor.

Kathleen Guzi, Bedford County administrator, said the area should support its current industry.

Most of the officials at the meeting expressed concern about a plant opening in the area because it could cause an unemployment problem if the plant ever closed.

Payne said the Ford Motor Co. plant in Norfolk is an example of what could happen.

Ford announced on April 13, it plans close its Norfolk plant and another plant in St. Paul, Minn., in two years. The Norfolk plant employs around 2,400 people.

Bedford County Board of Supervisors member John Sharp said considering the large number of retired workers moving into the Lynchburg area, officials should look at industries that will attract workers to help carry the tax burden.

But Virginia isn’t the only location Toyota is considering, and might be at a disadvantage.

According to The New York Times, Toyota’s list includes Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Virginia, unlike other Southern states, is not known for offering vast sums to lure major firms.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch said some estimate it could cost more than $100 million in incentives to bring the factory to Virginia. The Governor’s Opportunity Fund, which helps local governments land businesses, spends up to $11 million per year.

The factory, if approved by directors in Japan, would be its 15th in Canada, Mexico and the United States, and would probably open late this decade. The board of directors does not have a timetable for its decision at this time.

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Exactly why Virginia won't get this plant. Just keep bringing in those low paying jobs guys, that will make more young professionals want to stick around. Lynchburg lost Ericsson and survived...but now we don't want a Toyota plant because someday it may close...give me a break!!!

[TallyW]

Toyota was also over here in our area the last few days. They took a helecopter tour today over Isle of Wight and Chesapeake. They are looking for somewhere between 1000 and 1500 acres. The thoughts are that this area would be attractive for the reasons mentioned in that story... the fact that the Norfolks Ford plant will close in 2 years would basically give Toyota a ready-made workforce. We shall see...

[Flamesfanva]

Exactly! Virginia would be dumb not to exploit that, but as the article stated, VA is cheap on incentives. Wouldn't surprise me if NC gets it though.

[Libertine]

Mixed feelings?! How can you have mixed feelings?!
Is there an emoticon for banging your head against the wall?

[PeterParker]

Most of the officials at the meeting expressed concern about a plant opening in the area because it could cause an unemployment problem if the plant ever closed.

Payne said the Ford Motor Co. plant in Norfolk is an example of what could happen.

Ford announced on April 13, it plans close its Norfolk plant and another plant in St. Paul, Minn., in two years. The Norfolk plant employs around 2,400 people.

Officials should really do their research...the Norfolk plant has been in operation for over 80 years...so even though it is closing, the region did benefit for several generations of workers. Seems like the Lynchburg area is in that point of critical mass for growth--the push/pull between the "way it's always been done" and the "way that things need to operate in the 21st century economy" in order to grow and create a vibrant metropolitan area and stronger economic region. (Although I personally think Norfolk would be a better fit anyway.)

The Lynchburg area is definitely not going to get smaller with the many factors contributing to its growth, including the aggressive expansion of LU.

[LUconn]

I'm confused as to how this could possibly be bad. Environmental junk is a stretch since the James is running toxic waste as it is. So what dont they like? Jobs? Money? Population increase? Making the town relevant again? I swear we must have the stupidest people in charge around here. It's like they're trying to run this place into the ground like Danville. I thought it would end with that retard Flynn being gone but I guess it wasn't just her after all.

[Flamesfanva]

Well said LUconn. I'm still angry about this attitude they take. How about growing! People would move to this area to work for somebody like Toyota.

[PAmedic]

Mixed feelings?! How can you have mixed feelings?!
Is there an emoticon for banging your head against the wall?

there is, though I can't find it. Check out CCU's board for about 100 of them. Maybe JACKET or whoever will let SLY have some of them.

[Flamesfanva]

Toyota may be a luxury expense

By Richard M. Barron
Staff Writer

Toyota may be eyeing North Carolina, but should the state have eyes for the automaker?

North Carolina's success in the past few years landing big corporate names raises the question of whether it should pursue -- or even has what it takes to compete for -- a major auto plant.

Toyota is reportedly considering sites near Greensboro, Chattanooga, Tenn., Norfolk and Roanoke, Va., and Arkansas for its eighth North American factory. Such plants typically employ as many as 2,000 workers and pay among the highest manufacturing wages in the nation.

By every measure, landing such a project is a major victory. That's why states throw hundreds of millions of dollars in inducements at manufacturers. Georgia just last month landed a Kia plant with a $400 million lure.

But North Carolina has already committed hundreds of millions of dollars for several high-profile projects, including the Dell computer plant in Winston-Salem, a new FedEx package-sorting hub in Greensboro and a corporate campus for the Lenovo Group in Morrisville.

"How many of these (big projects) do you want to invest in?" asked Michael Luger, the director of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise's office of economic development at UNC-Chapel Hill.

"I am a realist that you have to have some skin in the game if you want to be successful in the environment we're in, up to a point," Luger said.

But others say there's little risk for North Carolina, and the Piedmont Triad in particular, to compete hard to recruit Toyota, which soon could overtake the General Motors as the world's largest automaker.

"The nature of this particular trophy makes it very special," said Keith Debbage, a professor of urban geography at UNCG. "It's one of the Achilles' heels of the North Carolina economy that we've not been able to reel in an automobile factory."

States have shelled out plenty of money for auto plants in recent years. Besides Georgia, Texas and San Antonio pledged between $200 million and $400 million in 2003 for a Toyota plant there.

The Dell plant in Forsyth County stands as the state's top incentive deal to date: $275 million.
Building the payout

The Piedmont Triad lost its last bid for a major automotive plant in 1993, when Mercedes rejected a site near Mebane and chose one in Alabama, which offered a $300 million incentives package.

"It was a marquee project," Luger said. "It really was transformational for the Alabama economy -- North Carolina's doing pretty darned well."

Where could a Toyota plant go here? Think rural. Urban counties such as Guilford and Forsyth have little available land of a size the company needs. That puts less-developed counties such as Randolph and Rockingham in the driver's seat.

Structuring an incentives deal is much like building a car: putting the right parts together in a tight fit. Those parts, for North Carolina, would likely include:

• job creation incentives under the existing Lee Act. The Lee Act offers tax credits to companies that create jobs, make capital investments, train workers or do research in the state. That could range between $6 million and $8 million for 2,000 jobs in rural counties.

• aid for buying and developing the land.

• assistance from the state Job Development Investment Grant of several million dollars. This program offers annual grants to companies at the state's discretion, based on withholding taxes paid by a company's employees.

• money for training incentives, improving area roads.

The state could even parcel out a special grant from the Golden LEAF tobacco settlement fund. Golden LEAF received half the money coming to North Carolina from the 1999 master settlement agreement with cigarette companies. Grants are geared toward helping communities move away from dependence on tobacco.

And the General Assembly can create any kind of special incentive it chooses, such as the $200 million "large computer manufacturer credit" it created for Dell.

If North Carolina gets into a bidding war for Toyota, Debbage wouldn't be surprised to see the total outlay approach $500 million.

While he's cautious about incentives, he also knows that auto plants bring job spinoffs. Auto parts suppliers, for example, are already moving into San Antonio months before the Toyota factory opens there.

"They really will be significant," he said. "No one's going to question that. There's no doubt. That's why everybody's chasing it."
The case for here

Andy Brod, the director of UNCG's Office of Business and Economic Research, agrees with Debbage that the economic impact would be impressive.

But the Piedmont Triad won't be able to recruit such a massive project alone. The state and regional groups such as the Piedmont Triad Partnership will have to play a big role.

The area already has advantages over Roanoke and Chattanooga in almost every social and economic measurement, Debbage says.

He compiled a study in 2003 for Action Greensboro, an economic development group, that ranks the city against similar cities on everything from education and per capita income levels to teen pregnancy levels.

Brod and the others say Randolph County could be ideal for such a project, with plenty of open land, access to Interstate 85 and the future Interstate 73/74 and good rail service.

Bonnie Renfro, naturally, agrees. She's the president of the Randolph County Economic Development Corp. She declined to say whether she knows anything about a possible Toyota deal, but she said the county has plenty of land.

She also knows her competition.

"I don't think that we are the only county in the Triad region that has an abundance of land with rail and infrastructure," she said. "More than half would be able to meet those criteria and maybe three-fourths."

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /604230305

Appomattox mayor Ronnie Spiggle said the area needs to keep a close eye on what officials think communities need, which tends to be young professionals, and not recruit jobs that would come from Toyota plants and Wal-Mart. “I think the Toyota plant is the wrong type of growth,” said Tom Messier, Bedford City mayor.

The article from the Greensboro paper says that Toyota pays some of the highest manufacturing wages in the nation and Appomattox Mayor compares them to Wal-Mart? Something is very wrong here.

Just shows the different attitudes between the Lynchburg area and Greensboro, which is why Greensboro grows and Lynchburg doesn't. Also shows why that plant will not come here. My bet is NC gets it because they do what it takes, which is why they landed the Dell plant.

Besides, I'd rather work at either Kohls or Old Navy, who wants to work at Toyota and make good money, it's just not the Lynchburg way.

[PAmedic]

First- the mayor's name is RONNIE SPIGGLE. Are you kidding me? What is he- a character on Playhouse Disney? Sorry, thats the Wiggles- my bad.

Second:

Appomattox mayor Ronnie Spiggle said the area needs to keep a close eye on what officials think communities need, which tends to be young professionals, and not recruit jobs that would come from Toyota plants and Wal-Mart. “I think the Toyota plant is the wrong type of growth,” said Tom Messier, Bedford City mayor.

SNOB

Yeah, very "high brow" over there- Upper West Side of Manhattan has NOTHING on them

[ATrain]

Basically they want to keep the area rural...having lived in the area all my life, this is why people my age want O-U-T OUT...and yet they don't understand why

[bigsmooth]

hopefully Gov. Kaine and the economic development team will do what is necessary to lure toyota. this could be an early blow to his tenure as governor if a deal cannot be done. this story is from the roanoke times on possible sites in that area.

Can region lure Toyota?
Several sites have the potential to be attractive locations for an automaker.
Mason Adams and Ray Reed

Potential sites for a Toyota manufacturing plant "outside of Roanoke" are likely to be located east or north of the city, people knowledgeable about industrial development said Monday.

Assets required by Toyota for its major assembly plants include infrastructure that isn't readily available west of Roanoke.

Phil Sparks, head of the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, said he'd heard Toyota is looking for a site within 100 miles of Roanoke, but that the groundwork for such a project would probably be handled at the state level.

Sparks said that if Toyota is looking for a site in Western Virginia, it's likely to be in an "outlying county" rather than in Roanoke proper. "There's not enough land in Roanoke city to put a Toyota plant," Sparks said. "They generally look for 1,000 to 2,000 acres."

Gov. Tim Kaine, via spokesman Kevin Hall, said that while officials at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership had been talking to Toyota "for several years," there was no real indication the company intended to locate in Virginia.

"We're aware that Toyota is likely to add new capacity in the future, just because it's a growing automaker," Hall said. But "my understanding is there's no formal search for a new plant, and that no decision has even been made to add a new plant."

In addition, say economic development experts, automobile manufacturers generally require access to an interstate highway, railroad, public water and natural gas.

The presence of two competing rail lines was a key factor when Toyota chose San Antonio for a Tundra pickup truck assembly plant in 2003, the company said.

In the Roanoke region, rail lines for CSX and Norfolk Southern converge only in a corridor from Buchanan to Glasgow, said Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman.

Two other key elements also exist in the Glasgow area: two interstate highways intersect near there, and a natural gas transmission line passes Glasgow. A significant gas supply would be needed to heat a large assembly plant, said John Williamson of RGC Resources in Roanoke.
U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, put a damper on speculation that Toyota could be interested in sites west of Roanoke. Boucher said that to his knowledge, Toyota was not looking for a site in his 9th District, which includes part of Roanoke County and most of Southwest Virginia west of Interstate 81.

Boucher said another Asian automaker, but not Toyota, has contacted him about potential sites for an assembly plant in the 9th District, which stretches from western Roanoke County to the Cumberland Gap. That carmaker is looking at sites in several other states and has not narrowed its search to a short list of locations, Boucher said. "There is not anything assured or imminent, but we are having a long-range conversation about a large assembly plant.

"I'm not trying to raise expectations in the district," Boucher added.

Officials in Botetourt County, Rockbridge County, Franklin County and the Alleghany Highlands all said they have yet to hear from Toyota.

At first glance, one possible site would seem to be the 900-acre Commerce Park in Pulaski County. However, Aric Bopp, executive director of the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance, said he hadn't heard the rumors about Toyota considering the region until he read about them in the newspaper on Sunday.

"We definitely would have a site that hopefully would be considered for that size investment," Bopp said. He added that as far as he knew, Toyota is not looking in the New River Valley, "but that does not mean they're not looking here and haven't told me."

Farther to the south, Wythe County's Progress Park consists of 1,210 acres -- 950 of it developable land -- with access to rail, water, natural gas, sewer and fiber optics.

Alan Hawthorne, executive director of the Joint Industrial Development Authority of Wythe County, which owns Progress Park, said he would "be surprised to hear that would be the case -- that a major Toyota plant would be under consideration for Virginia."

"That would certainly be a long shot" to land the factory, Hawthorne said. And even if the development authority had been talking to Toyota, he said, "we wouldn't be in a position to confirm or deny."

In Augusta County, rumors about Toyota have circulated since at least December 2004. The most mentioned site there is in Weyers Cave, a community on the north end of the county. And in the past year Augusta County commissioned a study to identify the site's infrastructure need to draw a major industrial employer.

"Weyers Cave is strategically located," said Wendell Coleman, chairman of the Augusta County Board of Supervisors. "It's located strategically off I-81. It's right by the hub of Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. And the railroad goes right by it."

The site has water and natural gas service, Coleman said. And although the land ownership is fragmented -- the largest landowner holds about 800 acres -- it's in a predominantly agricultural area, with most of the land still undeveloped.

The agricultural character may work against the chances of Toyota locating a factory there. Kay Frye, the supervisor who represents the Middle River district, which includes Weyers Cave, said she's opposed to the idea.

"We're very fortunate here in Augusta County to have everything in balance," Frye said. "We've got a nice mix of manufacturing and jobs. ... And our population is not growing real fast but it's on the high end of the estimates. When you get that kind of development that fast, you get a lot of costs, and eventually the cost of providing those services outstrips what you get."

Frye said state economic development officials have touted the potential of 1,000-acre "megasites" for attracting large employers, but "all they're telling us is all the gravy about it."

State Del. Steve Landes, R-Augusta County, represents the area in the General Assembly. He's heard the rumors about Toyota, and has his own set of concerns.

"The other thing about the automobile industry is it's a very volatile business right now," Landes said. "We're losing the Ford plant in Norfolk. I would think from a business standpoint, localities would be a little bit skittish about the industry in general being that stable. Obviously some of the international companies have done better in the marketplace, but it's not as stable as it used to be."

Existing industrial parks are not the only potential sites for a large manufacturing plant.

Mary Ellen Goodlatte, a Roanoke real estate lawyer, said potential sites can be assembled when a developer acquires options to purchase several adjoining parcels of land.

Once the options or contracts are signed, the developer can have engineers examine the site for environmental issues such as underground storage tanks left by a previous owner, and for dozens of other issues including water quality.

Activities during those first two steps are seldom recorded in courthouses or anywhere in the public domain, Goodlatte said. The first public indicator that something might be in the works is likely to be a request for zoning change, she said.

"I know something's going on but I don't know where," Goodlatte said. "I just sort of know these things. I cross my fingers and toes that it's in Western Virginia.

"We're all pulling for this thing to happen."


Staff writers Beth Jones, Angela Manese-Lee and Cody Lowe contributed to this report.

[ATrain]

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Investing in Lynchburg


By Blair Goldstein and Bethany Fuller
Lynchburg News & Advance
April 27, 2006


--------advertisement----------




Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced 38 new jobs and a multi-million-dollar expansion at RR Donnelley’s Lynchburg printing plant during a whirlwind visit to the area Wednesday.

The expansion is part of an $85 million investment by the company in its plants in Lynchburg and in Roanoke and Rockingham counties that is expected to bring 139 new jobs to the three plants within 30 months.

Kaine’s economic development announcement followed a stop at Madison Heights Elementary School, where he met with students and presented a health and physical fitness award.

Kaine traveled with State Police from Amherst County to Lynchburg to announce the expansion at the three RR Donnelley plants.

“You usually don’t see a multiple site expansion like this,” said Kaine, speaking on the manufacturing floor of the RR Donnelley plant off the Lynchburg Expressway, “and it’s great to do an announcement for an existing business like this.”

The company is investing about $29 million in the Lynchburg site, $38 million in the Roanoke County plant and $17 million in the Rockingham County plant.

In return, the company is receiving about $1.5 million in incentives from the state and city.

The state handed over a $1 million incentive check from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund to encourage the printing company to expand and invest in its Virginia plants.

The Lynchburg Industrial Development Authority voted Wednesday morning to award a $586,000 incentive to the Lynchburg plant as well.

The governor’s office said the Virginia Department of Business Assistance also would support the project with training and retraining assistance.

Bob Leveque, vice president of manufacturing at the Lynchburg plant, said the company’s growth would help the plants keep up with market demands.

“It’s due to the growth in our customer base,” he said.

Leveque said the Lynchburg plant creates mail-order catalogues and retail inserts for companies such as Avon, Home Depot and Newport News, a woman’s clothing line.

The plants in Roanoke and Rockingham counties mainly produce books.

Kaine said he decided to use $1 million of the $20 million available annually in the Governor’s Opportunity Fund because the manufacturing expansion will affect three communities instead of just one.

Kaine said smaller state grants ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 are more typical.

In 2003, then-Gov. Mark Warner awarded the RR Donnelley plant in Lynchburg $50,000 to invest in machinery and create 50 new jobs.

Wednesday’s announcement took on an air of celebration inside the Lynchburg printing plant. Employees stopped work to take part in the ceremony and eat cake.

“Lynchburg is extremely pleased to be a part of this announcement,” said Vice Mayor Joan Foster.

“We thank (RR Donnelley) for their vote of confidence and willingness to reinvest in this community.”

The printing company is headquartered in Chicago. The Lynchburg plant opened in 1970, when it was owned by Meredith-Burda.

The company currently employs more than 500 employees at the Lynchburg plant.

“By focusing a lot on new businesses we sometimes don’t shine the spotlight like we need to on existing businesses,” said Kaine.

“I think it’s important that all the money isn’t just focused on bringing the new guy here.”

Look at that last line...seems to be hinting that he, the governor himself, doesn't even want Toyota. GRRRR...all I can say is, I hope Norfolk tries to lure in Toyota b/c of the Ford plant closing there.

[LUconn]

He's a dem. Unless it's a Prius plant, it's evil .

[Flamesfanva]

Mixed feelings?! How can you have mixed feelings?!
Is there an emoticon for banging your head against the wall?

Here's one I ran across today and have saved for future use should the need occur -