Chattanooga: Alexander, officials tour VW site

Looking across the dusty expanse that will soon be home to Volkswagen’s new U.S. assembly plant, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., sees much more than an auto factory.

He pictures a network of local and out-of-town suppliers cropping up at the Enterprise South site as well, doubling — and possibly even tripling — the 2,000 new job opportunities expected to benefit Chattanooga’s economy by the time the plant begins production in 2011.

“Part of this is for the first suppliers,” Sen. Alexander said, gesturing toward the landscape during a tour Thursday with Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield and Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey. “I imagine you’ll see the suppliers as soon as you see Volkswagen.”

The mayors agreed, explaining that they are on board to attract the secondary business, which will include first-tier suppliers to provide to the plant and second-tier suppliers to take care of the first-tier suppliers’ needs.

“We know that there will probably be five or six tier one suppliers on site,” Mr. Ramsey said. “Then there’s another 240 acres or so that we look at as a suppliers’ area.”

He declined to say whether officials are courting any companies, and noted they would defer to Volkswagen to ensure that the suppliers who settle here meet the manufacturer’s requirements.

But Hayes Ledford, vice president of public policy for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, said that does not mean local officials aren’t working to attract attention in the supplier market.

“The recruiting process is certainly not over,” he said.

Mr. Littlefield indicated that at least some of that focus will be on businesses who are already established in the city and and surrounding areas, which he noted are already leaders in energy-efficient technology.

“We are standing in the middle of a bullseye of development that’s going to extend from here,” he said. “I’ve talked to at least a couple of local companies who anticipate adding employees.”

Sen. Alexander added that Tennessee is in a good position because the state has seen a great increase in the number of auto manufacturers since Saturn and Nissan plants first brought the industry here while he was governor in the early 1980s.

“Volkswagen’s decision to come to Chattanooga keeps Tennessee on the road to becoming the No. 1 state in auto supply jobs and puts the South further down the path towards becoming the new center for the American automobile industry,” he said.

Bob Tuke, Sen. Alexander’s democratic opponent in the November election, was not at the site Thursday. But he said by phone he questioned Sen. Alexander’s enthusiasm about the plant while ignoring other factors that could affect its long-term success.

While Sen. Alexander supports the development of electric vehicles, Mr. Tuke said, he has opposed a bill providing tax credits to companies providing wind energy, which could prove to be an important supplier to Volkswagen in the future.

“It’s such a wonderful thing that Volkswagen came,” he said. “But let’s be sure we have the energy we need to propel these cars on into the future.”