Business
NC is one of two states still in running for Toyota-Mazda plant, reports news service
North Carolina is one of two finalists to land the Toyota-Mazda joint auto manufacturing plant, according to unnamed sources published in a Bloomberg News story on Tuesday. The other state is Alabama.
The news service attributed the information to “people familiar with the negotiations.” It said spokesmen for both car companies declined to comment.
North Carolina economic development officials do not, by policy, discuss the status of negotiations with prospective companies that might be considering the state to relocate or expand.
“Although we’re in discussions with companies all the time, we do not comment on these conversations until an announcement of a site decision has been publicly released,” state Department of Commerce spokesman David Rhoades said Monday.
The car companies announced earlier this year that they were searching for a place to establish a plant that would manufacture 300,000 vehicles a year. They said it would create up to 4,000 jobs and entail an investment of $1.6 billion.
Bloomberg has previously reported that the companies want a $1 billion incentive package.
North Carolina has four “megasites” that have been built to accommodate large industry such as automotive or airplane. There are two megasites in Chatham County, one in Edgecombe County and one on the Guilford-Randolph counties border.
Randolph County is in the process of expanding its site by rezoning 370 acres to add to the 1,500 acres that comprise the site.
Officials in several states have said recently that they are no longer in the running. The most recent was an announcement by Tennessee officials that the Memphis region has been ruled out.
There has been a constant drum of analyses, surveys and guesses about where the plant will end up. Recently, The N&O reported that on a national survey of 70 site selection experts who placed North Carolina as No. 2, behind only Texas, as the likely choice.
Craig Jarvis: 919-829-4576, @CraigJ_NandO
Comments