Gregg Ridley
Greg Johnson

PIKEVILLE, Tenn. — Just back from a state-sponsored trade mission to Germany, the mayors of Pikeville and Bledsoe County say they have a ready-made Volkswagen supplier plant ripe for workers.

County Mayor Gregg Ridley and Pikeville Mayor Greg Johnson said Volkswagen suppliers will be visiting Pikeville’s former Dura Automotive plant and other sites in the region in January and February.

“I think we’re ahead of the game in Bledsoe County simply because the city is now gaining ownership of the Dura building,” Mr. Ridley said. “The building is actually equipped for the automotive industry, and I think that will give us an advantage.”

City leaders this month boosted property taxes to 85 cents per $100 of assessed value to pay for the $500,000 purchase. Mr. Johnson said debt service requirements handed down from the state comptroller’s office forced the increase, but the city got a good deal.

The increase also will fund a likely environmental study and cover $15,000 in earnest money needed to complete the transaction within 90 days, he said.

The 15.5-acre plant site has 140,000 square feet that includes office, warehousing and manufacturing space, a durability testing center and engineering center. The plant opened in 1980 and employed around 450 workers, officials said. The company made automobile seat recliners and power window devices before closing in 2004.

Mr. Johnson said there are 50 acres available in the industrial park and 1,200 acres of adjacent farmland that could be bought.

Mr. Ridley and Mr. Johnson participated in separate activities during the trade mission. Both said suppliers they met were especially interested in Bledsoe for its ready-to-go facility.

Supplier companies said it would take six to nine months to get a site such as Dura takes up and running, versus 18 to 20 months to build the same facility new, according to the two mayors.

“A couple of the gentlemen that we met with seemed to think that if they could actually do some type of a purchase in the third or fourth quarter of next year, that would give them time to set up and be ready to supply VW,” Mr. Johnson said.

Alderman Charlie Young, Dura’s maintenance supervisor for 21 years, said any supplier could make use of the plant’s engineering space and the durability testing center. Dura did durability studies for other automotive suppliers, and a new supplier could make extra money the same way, Mr. Young said.

“It’s a good time for somebody to move into it,” he said. “It’s set to go without a lot of work.”

Pikeville residents Joline Vernon and Mildred Bridgeman, early voters at the Bledsoe County Courthouse, said city taxpayers’ money is being well spent.

“You have to spend money to make money,” Ms. Vernon said. “I’d like to see it happen.”

Ms. Bridgeman said the city-county investment in the trade mission was “a wonderful idea” that aimed at a brighter future.