New Toyota Plant: Congratulations Blue Springs (Tupelo, West Point: to rent, mobile home, employment)

[jetjockey75]

Originally Posted by Tama

What am I missing here? It is my understanding that Toyota is putting over one billion into this plant and MS is offering less three million for land acquisition, training, infrastructure, and tax incentives.

Well, yes, you are missing just a little something -- you are off by a factor of one hundred. The bill that Barbour signed today gives almost $325 million in incentives to Toyota. That is not chump change for a state like ours. The question is, will it be worth it? The answer is -- well, yes, if you live in Pontotoc, Lee, or Union counties (where the economies are *already* robust compared to the rest of the state). All this hype about the deal benefiting the entire state is just a bunch of hooey, IMO. I still believe that it was in-state politics that steered Toyota to that particular site, instead of to a more suitable site in a more deserving location. JMO.

[M TYPE X]

Barbour loves giving money away to corporations ... or am I confusing him with another Deep South governor?

[Tama]

True enough--it is three HUNDRED million in the incentive package--that, however was a typo. Toyota will also give $50 mill to local schools. When I asked what I was missing I meant in your calculations that this was bad for Mississippi as a whole. How anyone can consider this a negative is beyond me. Of course it will help the whole state. It offers opportunity for skilled jobs that really pay (and one could relocate if it is not in his backyard), tax revenues, the ripple effect of suppliers and transport, and If Nissan and Toyota do well in their chosen locales that makes it easier for the next one to come. Corporations are what give us this cushy lifestyle in America. And don't say we don't have one. Do you have a cell phone, plenty of food, a roof over your head, a car, free emergency room care, and maybe some nice clothes--the poorest of the poor have that here. That is our bottom line. Thank God for corporations. Have you ever been outside the country? If so-surely you can see the difference that having corporate America makes in our wellbeing. That being said--we must just wait and see..

[6sigma]

Originally Posted by Chimpie

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunhera...e/16794236.htm

Can anyone tell me about the Blue Springs, Tupelo area?

I took a drive to Blue Springs, MS today to see the site where Toyota will build their new vehicle assembly facility. Site work is well under way. The site is located just off Highway 78 at Exit #73.

Blue Springs is a tiny place, but that exit is approximately 10 miles from both Tupelo and New Albany. Neither of these are what I would call cities, but both are nice towns.

It is easy to see how this area will benefit and boom as Toyota's plans unfold.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by 6sigma

I took a drive to Blue Springs, MS today to see the site where Toyota will build their new vehicle assembly facility. Site work is well under way. The site is located just off Highway 78 at Exit #73.

Blue Springs is a tiny place, but that exit is approximately 10 miles from both Tupelo and New Albany. Neither of these are what I would call cities, but both are nice towns.

It is easy to see how this area will benefit and boom as Toyota's plans unfold.

Those towns may benefit, but it'll be at the expense of other towns in Mississippi. It'll just be a further drain on the Delta; more people will have a reason to flee the Delta. So essentially the governor and the state legislature have decided that the Tupelo area should grow, but they've given the finger to the Delta and to the Golden Triangle--places that really could use some help in luring and keeping industry and jobs.

[6sigma]

Originally Posted by JMT

Those towns may benefit, but it'll be at the expense of other towns in Mississippi...

I'm not certain that economic development is a zero sum game. While Hollandale and Rolling Fork may not directly benefit from a vehicle assembly plant in Blue Springs, MS, it's not clear to me that their plight becomes worse. Given a longer-term view of things, it would seem that a company like Toyota - working on the scale they're working in Mississippi - will make a net positive contribution to the state's economy.

[JMT]

Originally Posted by 6sigma

I'm not certain that economic development is a zero sum game. While Hollandale and Rolling Fork may not directly benefit from a vehicle assembly plant in Blue Springs, MS, it's not clear to me that their plight becomes worse. Given a longer-term view of things, it would seem that a company like Toyota - working on the scale they're working in Mississippi - will make a net positive contribution to the state's economy.

Not necessarily. I think Alabama will be the net winner here since many of the suppliers are already in Alabama and will grow there--which is why the Alabama governor was also encouraging Toyota to go to Mississippi. So essentially the state of Mississippi is giving Toyota $150,000 per job to build a factory near Tupelo, but many of the suppliers will add hundreds of jobs in Alabama with Alabama not having to spend one dime.

And why didn't Mississippi do anything to keep the 2,000 Sara Lee jobs in Columbus? Again, it appears that the Tupelo area will be the golden child in Mississippi, and places like Meridian, the Golden Triangle, and the Delta are the forgotten stepchildren.

[Chimpie]

It's amazing how people look at what is happening at the moment and think that's all there's going to be in the future. Toyota is just one company. The plant is just one plant. There will be other companies and other plants in the future.

JMT, sure, they could have built the plant in lower Mississippi, and then there would have been someone who said, "Why not Tupelo?"

See my point?

[JMT]

Originally Posted by Chimpie

It's amazing how people look at what is happening at the moment and think that's all there's going to be in the future. Toyota is just one company. The plant is just one plant. There will be other companies and other plants in the future.

JMT, sure, they could have built the plant in lower Mississippi, and then there would have been someone who said, "Why not Tupelo?"

See my point?

And those other plants and those other companies have a legitimate claim to receive cash from the state of Mississippi, too.

Since many of the suppliers already have plants in Alabama and Tennessee, it's highly unlikely that they're going to also open plants in Mississippi (which is why Alabama's governor was in favor of the Tupelo site and why the governor of Tennessee wasn't too disappointed when Toyota didn't pick Chattanooga). Many of the ancillary jobs will be in Alabama and Tennessee, NOT in Mississippi. And if I were one of the suppliers, I'd have my hand out in front of the Mississippi legislature and ask for my cash reward, too, before I'd open a plant near the Toyota plant.

And this still begs the question, why didn't Mississippi offer Sara Lee the state treasury to keep its 2,000 jobs in the Golden Triangle?

A few land barons in the Tupelo area will make a killing, and a few unemployed furniture factory workers will be able to stay in Mississippi now. But is it really worth $150,000 per job? If the state of Mississippi were to spend that kind of money on improving its lousy schools and improving its crumbling highways, they wouldn't have to bribe corporations to set up shop in the state.

[Chimpie]

Forgive me as I wasn't around the forum prior to the Toyota annoucement, but why is Sara Lee closing?