Section H Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal It’s ...wellspringproject.com/downloads/toyotasectionh.pdf · ject, the site near Blue Springs devel- ... June 6, 2007 Section H Northeast

The rumors had come and gone, andwith them some of the hopes. Whowas coming to the Wellspring Pro-ject, the site near Blue Springs devel-oped and marketed for an automak-

er? Kia had emerged as a major candidate, butchose Georgia over Mississippi. Other names,including Honda, popped up in the specula-tion, only to fade away.

On Monday, Feb. 26, 2007, thenews leaked out from Japan: Toy-ota had chosen a site for its nextU.S. plant. Toyota was going tobuild in Mississippi. Toyota, it was

officially announced the next day, was comingto Wellspring.

It’s official

The First 100 DaysThe First 100 DaysTOYOTATOYOTA

June 6, 2007 n Section H n Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

COVER PHOTOS BY THOMAS WELLS/C. TODD SHERMAN

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PAGE 2H n JUNE 6, 2007 TOYOTA: THE FIRST 100 DAYS NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL

NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL TOYOTA: THE FIRST 100 DAYS JUNE 6, 2007 n PAGE 3H

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“Tennessee EconomicDevelopment Commis-sioner Matt Kisber saidseveral factors may have

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near Elvis Presley’shometown of Tupelo,

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To our readers:Within milestones are other milestones,

and this special publication celebrates bothkinds.

It’s been 100 days since Toyota officials,along with Gov. Haley Barbour, stood before apacked Fine Arts Center at Tupelo HighSchool to announce that the automaker hadchosen Northeast Mississippi as the site for anew plant.

Toyota’s decision was historic; it markedanother turning point in the continued evo-lution of the area’s economy, which has shift-ed over the years from cotton to dairy to fur-niture and now, to automotive.

As much as that event will stand as a mile-stone in the region’s history, the 100th day isanother stopping point – a time to reflect onthe first 99 and a time to consider the possi-bilities ahead.

That’s what “Toyota: The First 100 Days” isintended to do. This special four-section edi-tion recaptures the highlights of the compa-ny’s venture into Northeast Mississippi, fromthe Tupelo High extravaganza through thelegislative process to the speedy site prepara-tion.

You will find the Daily Journal’s actual cov-erage of the events, as well as some previous-ly unpublished information as well as back-ground on Toyota itself.

We hope you enjoy reliving the past 100days of what should be a journey dotted withmany more milestones.

– Michael Tonos, Managing editor/news

BY DENNIS SEIDDaily Journal

TUPELO – It is a Japanese concept, keiretsu,that might apply to how Toyota and Mississip-pi became partners.

The Japanese automaker is building a $1.3billion vehicle assembly plant that will initial-ly employ some 2,000 workers and createthousands of spinoff jobs. Company officialssaid they could have gone anywhere, but ulti-mately picked the Wellspring Project megasitenot because of money, but because of thearea’s people.

And most important was how well everyoneworked together to bring the project tofruition.

In many ways, Toyota found that workingwith state and local officials was much likekeiretsu, a form of corporate structure wherecompanies form a close-knit bond, workingtogether to achieve success for all.

The system, based on close partnershipsbetween government and businesses, linksmanufacturers, suppliers, distributors and ahost of others.

And while there is no such thing as Ameri-

can keiretsu – or Mississippi keiretsu, for thatmatter – it was clear that forging relationshipswas critical as Toyota worked with state andlocal officials.

Company representatives visited the area16 times, talking to local manufacturers andemployees, finding out what they could aboutthe people who would build their vehicles.They liked what they saw.

“On my visits to North Mississippi, I havetalked with area companies and observedtheir work force,” said Toyota executive vicepresident Ray Tanguay. “What I observed werepeople who were educated, ethical andfriendly with a strong work ethic – a perfectmatch for the Toyota way.”

Toyota, in fact, found its way to Mississippiseveral years ago, when the company waslooking to build a truck assembly plant. Whilethat facility went to San Antonio – which re-cently started production of the Tundra truck– Toyota officials also looked at Mississippi.

But Wellspring was just an idea at the time.“Toyota flew over the site, but they told us

we just didn’t have enough information forthem at the time,” said David Rumbarger,

president and CEO of the Tupelo-based Com-munity Development Foundation, whichhelped to market Wellspring.

“Our motto was ‘win every visit,’” he said.“We had 16 opportunities to win them over,and we did.”

Former Toyota Senior Vice President DennisCuneo, who left the company in October butwas involved in the selection process thatpicked Wellspring, said Gov. Haley Barbourhelped strengthen the ties the company hadalready made.

“First of all, he’s a great governor,” Cuneosaid. “He’s a tremendous salesman. Right afterhe was elected, he maintained the contactswith us, developed the relationship andwhenever he was in New York he came to seeus. Any official he could see, he would talk tous.”

“Without Haley Barbour,” Cuneo addedlater, “we wouldn’t be here today. If you askme one key factor, it’s him. He cannot only sellit, he can back it up.”

In May 2006, Barbour and former Tupelo

Courting ToyotaHow the automaker selected Wellspring

Turn to COURTING on Page 5H


Welcome Toyota,

our new friends, to the highlands

of North Mississippi.

“Our roots are here in North Mississippi... not just our branches.”

mayor and TVA Chairman GlennMcCullough Jr. invited Cuneo tovisit the Wellspring site. He was-n’t able to do so until July, butmet with McCullough, Bancorp-South Chairman and CEOAubrey Patterson and DavidRumbarger.

They pitched Wellspring andNortheast Mississippi to Cuneo,then took him to the Cooper Tireplant in Tupelo, where he expe-rienced firsthand what otherToyota officials would discoverlater.

“I said ‘Wow, there’s some-thing really here, something Iwas never aware of,’” Cuneo re-called, “the strong work ethic,the skills, and the whole thingabout furniture manufacturingand the fact that it was consoli-dating and there would be agood available work force.”

Impressed by what he saw andheard, Cuneo went back to Toy-

ota, which then sent human re-sources personnel to NortheastMississippi to do its due dili-gence.

“They confirmed what I sawthat day, and then Ray Tanguayand others came down and didtheir own due diligence,” Cuneosaid. “We all thought this mightbe a good place for a plant. Wereally felt this community need-ed it and wanted it.

“And beyond that we also likethe educational system, the wayits integrated, the communitycolleges and thing they’re doingat Ole Miss with the automobileengineering program. That wasa very important piece, and thisarea is tremendous.”

Barbour first contacted Cuneoin spring 2004, not long after hetook over the governor’s chair. Atthe time, Toyota had not made adecision to build a new plant,but industry speculation wasthat the company would look toexpand it North American oper-ations as it continued to gainmarket share.

The two maintained regularcontact with each other, but

Barbour said the discussions in-tensified last summer, whenCuneo visited the state.

In fact, Barbour said, Toyotaofficials looked at several sites,including Como, Wellspring, Tu-nica and Meridian.

“About September, they start-ed to focus on the Wellspringsite at Blue Springs, and weworked on it very seriously sincethen,” he said.

Governor’s visit to TokyoIt was also in September that

Barbour made a swing throughTokyo, where he spoke at a con-ference – and met with Toyota. Itwas the second trip in as manyyears to Japan. Before HurricaneKatrina devastated the GulfCoast in August 2005, Barbourhad made a much-publicizedtrip through Asia, includingSouth Korea and Japan.

“When I went back in Septem-ber, I met with one of Toyota’sboard leaders, and already atthat point, we had had a numberof discussions with Toyota’s siteselection operation, with DennisCuneo leading that,” Barbour

said.Speculation swirled in early

January that Wellspring was onthe short list of candidates forToyota’s eighth assembly plant,but then Marion, Ark., and Chat-tanooga, Tenn., emerged asfront-runners. In fact, it was re-ported by several news sourcesthat Marion was the likely site.

Barbour and other officialsstayed quiet, knowing that Well-spring was, in fact, very much inthe race for the plant.

Gray Swoope, executive direc-tor of the Mississippi Develop-ment Authority, said the statedid its part in honoring Toyota’srequest not to mention its inter-est in Wellspring. So even asMarion and Chattanooga weremaking the headlines, Swoopesaid, it was at times amusing towatch the media speculatewhere the plant was going.

“It was humorous at times toread some of the articles thatwere coming out, knowing whatwe were doing at the time,” hesaid. “But we were staying fo-cused on the project, and thatwas important.”

But it wasn’t until Sundaymorning, Feb. 25, that state offi-cials heard from Toyota that ithad selected Wellspring. Com-pany officials asked Barbour tokeep the information as quiet aspossible, wanting to make an of-ficial announcement the follow-ing Tuesday, and he did.

“Two years ago, Toyota askedus to keep this confidential. Wetold them we would, and we did,plain and simple,” he said.

And while the state is offeringa total package of about $324million in incentives, it wasn’tjust the money on the table, Toy-ota officials said. Time and timeagain, they talked about thequality of the work force andhow well the communitiesworked together to close thedeal.

In many ways, then, it was,keiretsu – with a Southern ac-cent.

“We wouldn’t pronounce it thesame,” Swoope said with alaugh, “but yes, that conceptcertainly fits.”

– Originally published Feb. 28, updated May 30

CourtingContinued from Page 4H

“It was hu-morous attimes to readsome of the ar-ticles that werecoming out,knowing whatwe were doingat the time.But we werestaying focusedon the project,and that wasimportant.”

Gray Swoopeexecutive director

of the Mississippi De-velopment Authority

PAGE 6H n JUNE 6, 2007 100 DAYS NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL

TUNICA COUNTYWelcomes

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n The Japanese automaker willcreate some 2,000 jobs with its 15th North American plant.

BY DENNIS SEIDDaily Journal

TUPELO – Half a world awayin Tokyo, while most of North-east Mississippi was stillasleep late Monday, the boardof directors of Toyota MotorCorp. officially gave its finalstamp of approval for a projectthat likely will forever changethe landscape of the region.

Then all eyes turned to Tu-pelo, where on Tuesday morn-ing federal, state and localleaders, joined by Toyota offi-cials, officially announced thatthe company was building a$1.3 billion vehicle assemblyplant at the Wellspring Projectmegasite near Blue Springs, 10miles northwest of Tupelo.

Production is expected tobegin in 2010 on the 1,700-acre site, which was chosen

over locations in Arkansas andTennessee.

Toyota made its decisionSunday, but news had leakedMonday that the deal wasdone. Officials, however, re-mained tight-lipped untilTuesday’s event at the TupeloHigh School Performing ArtsCenter, where the 1,500 peoplepacked into the auditoriumerupted in applause andcheers and delivered at least adozen standing ovations in atatmosphere of festive celebra-tion.

With broadcasts over theWeb and across the world, offi-cials sang the praises of thearea, citing the cooperation,the work ethic and even theloyalty of the thousands ofpeople who will be involvedwith the massive project. It willbe Toyota’s 15th North Ameri-can manufacturing plant andits eighth assembly plant.

“We in Mississippi and espe-cially North Mississippi are ex-

cited to have been chosen byToyota as its partner,” Gov.Haley Barbour said. “Toyota isthe world’s premier auto man-ufacturer, and our state will bethe best partner Toyota hasever had.”

The plant, which will buildHighlander sports utility vehi-cles, will employ some 2,000workers by the time produc-tion starts. Another 2,000 con-struction jobs will be createdto build the facility, and sever-al thousand related jobs areexpected.

The $1.3 billion investmentby Toyota doesn’t include thestate incentive package worthabout $324 million, including$30 million to recruit suppliers– less than the $363 millionpackage offered to Nissanseven years ago. Legislatorscould begin work as early asFriday on approving the pack-age.

– Originally published Feb. 28

It’s official: Toyota picksNortheast Mississippi

THOMAS WELLSSeiichi Sudo, right, president and COO of Toyota Engineering and Manufacturing North America, sported Elvis glassesduring the annoucement that Toyota was coming to Blue Springs.


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Toyota To Build Highlanders inMississippi

New Plant to Start Productionby 2010; To Employ 2,000 TeamMembers

February 27, 2007 – TUPELO,Mississippi – Mississippi GovernorHaley Barbour joined Toyota(NYSE: TM) officials today to an-nounce that the company has cho-sen a 1,700-acre site in BlueSprings, Mississippi to build itseighth North American vehicle as-sembly plant.

The new plant, to be located justoutside of Tupelo, will have the ca-pacity to build 150,000 vehicles an-nually of Toyota’s popular High-lander sport utility vehicle. Produc-tion is scheduled to begin by 2010.

The new plant represents a $1.3billion investment by Toyota and isexpected to create approximately2,000 new jobs for the region andindirectly create work for manymore. Operations at the plant willinclude stamping, body weld, plas-tics, paint, and assembly.

Governor Barbour, speaking at anews conference held in Tupelo,welcomed Toyota’s decision to setup operations in Mississippi.

“We in Mississippi and especiallyNorth Mississippi are excited tohave been chosen by Toyota as itspartner,” said Governor Barbour.“Toyota is the world’s premiereauto manufacturer and our statewill be the best partner the compa-ny has.”

Toyota manufacturing ExecutiveVice Presidents, Gary Convis andRay Tanguay, joined Governor Bar-bour at the announcement to helpdeliver the good news to local citi-

zens.Convis addressed Toyota’s chal-

lenge in balancing rapid growthwhile maintaining the company’ssuperior quality standards, notingthe recent start up of Tundra pro-duction in San Antonio and up-coming launch of Camry produc-tion at the Subaru plant inLafayette, Indiana.

“We are excited for the opportu-nity to do business in Mississippiand are confident the team mem-bers here will have a commitmentto perform at the highest possiblelevel,” he said. “Governor Barbourand the regional economic devel-opment team were very convincingand unrelenting in their efforts toshowcase the area’s advantages,”Convis said, while acknowledgingthat competition among severalstates for the new plant was tough.

Tanguay also pointed out severalfactors that led to Toyota’s site se-

lection decision.“On my visits to Northern Missis-

sippi, I have talked with area com-panies and observed their work-force,” said Tanguay. “What I ob-served were people who are edu-cated, ethical and friendly with astrong work ethic – a perfect matchfor the Toyota Way.” He added thatthe area’s existing companies hadhigh praise for the workforce.“They were definitely the best salespeople.”

Convis and Tanguay both recog-nized the contributions of the teamwho worked on bringing Toyota’sfifth vehicle assembly plant to theU.S., citing the team effort putforth by state and local officialsand the private sector.

“The partnership of all of thesegroups was instrumental to our de-cision, including the creation of anew rail district to provide compet-itive rail access for the plant,” said

Tanguay.“We’re honored that Toyota has

chosen to invest in our state andgrow with Mississippians,” saidTrent Lott, Senator of Mississippi.“This is a partnership between oneof the world’s best companies, anda state which has already proven it-self capable of attracting theworld’s top defense, automotiveand aerospace jobs.”

Mississippi Senator ThadCochran and Congressman RogerWicker also participated in the an-nouncement.

Site preparation and construc-tion for the plant is scheduled tobegin later this spring. A majorityof the hiring will take place closerto the start of vehicle production.

The announcement: What Toyota told the world


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BLUE SPRINGS – CREATE Foundationwill administer the $50 million Toyota willdistribute to schools in Pontotoc, Unionand Lee counties over 10 years.

Toyota announced in February, when itannounced plans to build in NortheastMississippi, that it intends to donate $5million every year for 10 years to localschools.

Ray Tanguay, executive vice president ofToyota Motor Engineering & Manufactur-ing North America, said distribution of themoney will begin in 2010 when produc-tion starts at the Highlander plant west ofTupelo.

Mike Clayborne, president of CREATE,said Toyota has asked that the money gotoward math and science issues, earlychildhood development and school-to-career resources.

He emphasized Toyota intends the

money to be enhancement money andnot money to pay for the basics.

“Although they have some clearthoughts on some areas they’d like to haveaddressed, a lot of discretion will be left tothe advisory committee and local schooldistricts to come up with innovative waysfor how to spend the money,” he said.

Clayborne said an advisory committeewill be formed with representatives fromPontotoc, Union and Lee counties.

Its recommendations then will go to theCREATE board for review. He said it is hisunderstanding that the money will begiven to public schools in Pontotoc, Unionand Lee counties.

“Everything is very preliminary as tohow the funds will be distributed,” he said.

CREATE is a Tupelo-based communityfoundation that serves 16 counties inNortheast Mississippi.

– Originally published April 19

BY ERROL CASTENSDaily Journal Oxford Bureau

OXFORD – Think of the culture clashes that Toy-ota’s arrival may bring to Northeast Mississippi:East and West, cosmopolitan and rural, wealthyand, well, hoping to be wealthy.

Ole Miss will provide facilities, faculty and ad-ministrative support for classes aimed at a coupleof those – Toyota’s native Japanese culture and thecompany’s special way of working – that will comewith the auto plant.

“I think our primary mission is to help them,”said Ole Miss Provost Carolyn Staton. “We’re plan-ning to work with them on the Japanese Saturdayschool for the children and an engineering pro-gram in combination with (the Business School)that teaches the methodology that Toyota uses.”

The Saturday school will be modeled on othersconducted in conjunction with other Toyota plantsand in other cities where there are sizable popula-tions of Japanese citizens living temporarily in theUnited States.

“Japanese Saturday Schools exist to helpJapanese young people who are living in the UnitedStates maintain their knowledge of Japanese lan-guage and culture,” states a report from theJapanese Saturday School of Bloomington-Normal,Ill.

“Most JSS students are in the United States be-

cause their parents work at American locations ofJapanese companies.”

Such schools typically offer study in Japaneselanguage, mathematics, and social studies – thesubjects in which Japanese students otherwise maylose the most ground while living overseas.

“We’re going to run the Japanese school throughour Outreach Division,” Staton said.

Ole Miss also will offer training in the Toyota wayof doing business, from such precepts as creativity,practicality, generosity and reverence to “guidingprinciples” such as respect for local laws and cus-toms wherever the company operates and commit-ment to sustainable societies.

It will also focus on Toyota’s highly scripted ap-proaches to safety, waste reduction, process flexi-bility and other industrial values.

“I think this training is going to attract peoplewho already have a degree,” Staton said. “It’s not somuch for the people who work for Toyota as for thepeople who supply them.”

Many of the program’s classes will be held athours that accommodate full-time work.

“We’ll also have to decide where to have it,” Sta-ton said. “Offering it in Tupelo may be better for thepeople we want to reach than here in Oxford.”

– Originally published March 4

Toyota commits $50M to help drive area schools

Ole Miss to offer programs for Toyota


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TOYOTA TIMELINE

n Feb 26: A Japanese newspaperreports that Toyota will build a

vehicle assembly plant in Mississippi.

n Feb. 27: Gov. Haley Barbourannounces Toyota’s decision to

build a $1.3 billion plant at theWellspring site near Blue Springs.

n March 2: The Legislature ap-proves a $323.9 million state in-

centive package, including $30million for suppliers.

n March 12: Hill Bros. Contruc-tion begins clearing the core site.

n March 28: The site clearing iscompleted.

n April 18: The formal ground-breaking is held at the plant site.

n May 25: Toyota selects L&TConstruction and M&H Construc-

tion to level and prepare the site.

n Fall: Foundation for plant tobe poured

n Late 2007: Steel to be erectedfor the plant.

n Mid-2008: The company willbegin taking job applications.

n Late 2009: Vehicle productionis scheduled to begin.

Spontaneous exhilarationseized the day Tuesday inNortheast Mississippi withToyota’s official announce-ment that it will build a $1.3billion SUV assembly plant onthe Wellspring megasite nearBlue Springs in Union County.

It is a transformative oppor-tunity – the long-sought nextday of a new manufacturinglevel ... Tuesday’s announce-ment was the product of ourregion’s civic leaders, boards ofsupervisors, legislative back-ers, economic developmentagencies in the private andpublic sectors, the congres-sional delegation – and asharply focused and ultimatelyeffective initiative by Gov.Haley Barbour and the Missis-sippi Development Authorityto negotiate, finesse and sealthe deal. ...

Tuesday’s event and the ef-fort making it possible areunique, appropriate for thewords of Daniel Webster quot-ed by Congressman RogerWicker of Tupelo, “Let us de-velop the resources of ourland, call forth its powers,

build up its institutions, pro-mote all its great interests, andsee whether we also, in our dayand generation, may not per-form something worthy to beremembered.”

Northeast Mississippianshave created that memory, andthe best way to honor it is tobuild on it.

– Daily Journal editorial,Feb. 28

n n n

When one of the world’s pre-mier automotive manufactur-ers opens in your backyard,coupled with the arrival of nu-merous companion industries,and the availability of thou-sands of jobs, the stakes auto-matically accelerate.

This is certainly true of thechallenges and opportunitiesfaced by kindergarten throughgraduate level educational in-stitutions in Northeast Missis-sippi with the historic an-nouncement of the location ofToyota’s eighth United Statesassembly plant at Blue Springs.

Toyota’s selection of that site

was driven by the quality of aneducated regional work forceas well as its value of a strongwork ethic. It is a great compli-ment to the educational insti-tutions of the region that overthe last 50 years our peoplehave demonstrated a strongvalue system, work ethic andskills that have equipped themfor the new economy.

– David Cole, president of Itawamba Community

College, March 4n n n

... This was a “team” victory ifever there was one.

Gov. Haley Barbour was theteam leader in recent months,and he and his Mississippi De-velopment Authority were ex-traordinarily effective. ...

But were it not for thegroundwork of the last severalyears, Tuesday’s jubilant cele-bration at Tupelo High Schoolwould never have taken place.Barbour’s pivotal leadershipbuilt on a foundation laid byvisionary local elected officials,economic developers and civic

leaders who saw a need andworked together to meet it –precisely the formula that hasfor more than half a centurydefined the success of this re-gion. ...

The readiness of NortheastMississippi for this milestonegoes back even farther thanthe formation of the PUL Al-liance, or its predecessor by afew years, the Commission onthe Future of Northeast Missis-sippi. A regional culture thatdeveloped over many decadeswas fundamentally importantto last week’s events. ...

Toyota is an appropriatecompany to join the region’seconomic development part-ners. When the Tupelo-basedCommunity DevelopmentFoundation began recruitingindustry in the years immedi-ately following World War II, itconsciously avoided compa-nies it knew would exploitworkers or not be good corpo-rate citizens. That set a stan-dard, and Toyota – an employ-ee-oriented and socially re-sponsible company – is theideal continuation of that tra-

dition.– Daily Journal Editor Lloyd

Gray, March 4n n n

The celebration surround-ing Toyota’s decision to locateits next manufacturing plantnear Blue Springs has nowgiven way to anticipationabout the economic impactthis once-in-a-lifetime under-taking will have throughoutnorth Mississippi and acrossour region. ...

This new partnership hasboosted the image of our stateacross the nation and aroundthe world. One internationaleconomist said landing a Toy-ota plant was obviously a sig-nificant development, noting“it is hard to get one of thosethings.” Our success in doingso will strengthen efforts to at-tract more big-time businessdevelopment in the future.

This news should also be asource of pride for all Missis-sippians and serve as anotherindication that we can com-pete with anyone, anywhere

for major manufacturing facil-ities. Toyota officials told us thework ethic of our people wasan important element of thepackage that sold them on theWellspring site.

– U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker,March 7

n n n

Future scholars will confirmthat Toyota, a company drivenby long-term goals rather thanshort-term profits, was attract-ed to this area of the UnitedStates because its ordinary cit-izens had inherited a legacy of“can do” and “make-do” atti-tudes toward life and labor.The South’s hills and hollowsgenerated a different, lessstratified and more open soci-ety than places where individ-uals accumulated vast wealthbased on massive deposits ofrich land.

Hill people were forced tobecome Jacks and Jills of mul-tiple trades and tasks. Whetheryou were black or white, maleor female, surviving in the hillcounties before World War IImeant moving from one taskto another. You had to figureout on the spot how to makethings work and how to repairtools. Necessity generated in-ventiveness and demanded re-sourcefulness. It never oc-curred to these hardy folks thatthey could not do somethingbecause, in fact, they had to doit in order to survive.

... In the midst of the publicrelations media blitz sur-rounding Toyota’s decision, letus remember and honor thosefarm women who took theirrural work ethic into the area’sfactories. In doing so, they be-came social and economic in-novators when they figuredout a new way to sustain theirfamilies.

Trying new ways of doingthings is exactly what Toyotaprides itself on doing. Toyotaand the women of north Mis-sissippi along with their hus-bands should do just fine to-gether.

– University of MississippiHistory Professor Elizabeth

Payne, March 4


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n Although the Toyota plantsite is in Union County,Pontotoc and Lee also will reap rewards.

BY LEESHA FAULKNERDaily Journal

The story of how Toyotacame to Northeast Mississippiis a story often told when peo-ple talk about Tupelo and LeeCounty development.

It’s the story of regional coop-eration and people working tobenefit the labor force in thearea. It’s the story of looking outfor public education and reap-ing the benefits.

“It’s all that,” said Phil Mor-gan, president of the Lee Coun-ty Board of Supe0rvisors. “It allcomes back to Tupelo and LeeCounty and being able to worktogether on issues that expandbeyond our actual boundaries.”

And here’s what is supposedto happen: 2,000 jobs ultimate-ly will rise with this plant locat-ed on the 1,700-acre megasitenear Blue Springs. The plantwill produce 150,000 High-lander SUVs a year. The firstone is expected to roll off theproduction line in 2010.

The actual property is locat-ed in Union County, but Ponto-toc and Lee counties will sharein the profits, an example ofthat being the $50 millionpromised to the schools of thethree counties through 10 an-nual gifts of $5 million each.

“That means Tupelo and LeeCounty schools and Baldwynand Nettleton will share in thatas well as schools in othercounties,” Morgan said.

Three-county partnershipAnd, the three counties have

shared in the expenses, eachputting up funds to acquire theproperties back months agowhen the options were about torun out.

“You know we worked to-gether on that,” said Gary Car-nathan, the attorney for LeeCounty. “We tied it all togetherso each county shared a por-tion of the expense. It paid offtoday.”

Union County SupervisorNorman Treadaway is proudthat the entire site is within theboundaries of his District 4. Buteven Treadaway spreads creditfor the success.

“No one county could have

done this alone,” he said. “Thisis truly all of us working togeth-er as the PUL Alliance – Ponto-toc, Union and Lee counties –with David Rumbarger of CDFand Randy Kelly of Three Riversleading the way.”

During Tuesday’s announce-ment, the regional effort took aback seat to state and federalpoliticians who spoke of Mis-sissippi and Washington andeconomic development on aworldwide scale.

Lee County SupervisorCharles Duke, chairman of thePUL Alliance, brought it backhome.

“This is a first for Mississip-pi,” he said. “The PUL Allianceis the first regional economicdevelopment alliance formedin the state of Mississippi, andit has used the resources of thestate and local resources to pre-pare the best industrial site inthe nation.

“We believe it will revitalizeregional growth at a time whenwe have to stay diversified tomaintain our economic com-petitiveness. I think that says itall.”

– Originally published Feb. 28

Regional cooperationhelps spread wealth

PAGE 11H n JUNE 6, 2007 100 DAYS NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI DAILY JOURNAL

Lee County Supervisors,from left, Charles Duke,

Glenn Weeks Tommie Ivyand Phil Morgan, right, greetToyota representative Seiichi

Sudo during the Toyota an-noucement at Tupelo High

School in February.

C. TODD SHERMAN


Just 100 days ago Toyota Motor Corporation announced that theWellspring Project site at Blue Springs would be the location of oneof the most sought-after projects in the industrial world.

The air of excitement at the Tupelo High School Ruth Liveakosauditorium on announcement day February 27 was electric. Thegroundbreaking ceremony April 18 was stunning. And the reality ofToyota coming to Northeast Mississippi has generated enthusiasmand conversation unequalled in recent history.

Not only is Toyota coming with 2,000 or more jobs – many oftheir suppliers will follow them to this area and create even moreopportunities.

This is the rebirth of the industrial era in Northeast Mississippi.Others will look to see why the world’s leading automotivemanufacturer selected Northeast Mississippi, and they will find thepeople, the spirit of cooperation and the public- private partnershipthat set us apart.

Today and tomorrow, as for the past 130 years, BancorpSouth willbe “Right Where You Are,” to meet the financial needs of business,industry and individuals as we continue to strive to reach the truepotential this area and its people have to offer.

The Excitement.The Energy.The Enthusiasm.

Right whereyou areSM

BancorpSouth,

BXS 100 days ad:Layout 1 5/24/07 1:57 PM Page 1

Section H Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal It’s ...wellspringproject.com/downloads/toyotasectionh.pdf · ject, the site near Blue Springs devel- ... June 6, 2007 Section H Northeast

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