Timber crews and logging trucks have been massaging the outskirts of a forested tract in southeast Georgia for weeks, leaving curious neighbors wondering what might be coming to their working-class area.
The answer came in a regulatory permit filed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Volvo is scouting the 1,900-acre site about 30 minutes west of Savannah to build its first U.S. auto plant. One resident said he’s thrilled by the prospect.
“It’ll build up the community,” said Jerry Williams, owner of a land-clearing firm who lives nearby. “There are no jobs for young people. This would keep them in town.”
It is far from a done deal. Georgia and South Carolina are on the Swedish automaker's short-list for a $500 million factory, and both states are maneuvering to land the plant and its 4,000 jobs. Volvo's decision is expected within weeks.
The permit offers details on what the Georgia site may look like. It was filed by a newly-created development authority that wants to construct a "megasite manufacturing facility" at the Bryan County tract.
The site includes more than 1,000 acres of pine forests and about 300 acres of wetlands that are near road and rail lines. The permit includes more than a dozen facilities along Interstate 16 and a rail line spur that would run adjacent to the new plant.
A site study found the land includes gopher tortoises, considered an endangered species in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana but not in Georgia. The permit application said the state would “undertake voluntary relocation efforts” to move the tortoises to other habitats.
South Carolina is pitching a site in Berkeley County, just north of Charleston. Georgia has also shown Volvo several other sites around the state that could be potential candidates.
South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley declined to comment on her state’s pursuit of Volvo at an event in Bluffton, S.C., on Monday. But she cited the state’s Boeing plant and a recently-announced expansion of a Mercedes-Benz factory that builds Sprinter vans in touting the state’s industrial boom.
“When it comes to manufacturing, we are knocking it out of the park,” she said.
Both states are making moves to pave the way for the plant, which would mark a landmark - if costly - victory. The automaker would likely require a bounty of incentives, including grants, tax credits, infrastructure improvements and job training assistance.
The State newspaper reported that South Carolina hopes to borrow as much as $150 million to land the deal. The newspaper also reported that two key agencies called emergency closed-door meetings last week to discuss an economic development project.
Georgia officials have approved a budget that includes $40 million for state "deal-closing" funds, legislation that makes it easier for state agencies to buy vehicles made in Georgia and an overhaul of a state environmental commission that Gov. Nathan Deal has said could make it easier to land major projects.
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