Tennessee wins VW plant

City Manager Chris Olson has announced that Marshall/Marshall Township did not win the anticipated VW assembly plant that had been proposed for the Gerholz property on C Drive. "We're obviously very disappointed," he said in a preliminary interview. The plant is reportedly going to Tennessee. "We heard the news," said Marshall Township Planning and Zoning Administrator Susan George. "I wasn't really expecting it but it is disappointing, nonetheless."
Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued this statement shortly after the news broke at 10:30 a.m. “We aggressively made a case for why Volkswagen should choose Michigan. Our highly skilled workforce and an unprecedented incentive package capped a full-court press to bring the company’s investment to Michigan. We will continue going anywhere and doing anything to bring jobs to Michigan. In fact, today we’re heartened by the announcement that Dow Chemical Company has chosen Michigan for the headquarters of its new joint venture, K-Dow that will bring hundreds of jobs to Michigan, and the approval of 13 other new projects in communities around the state. Together, these announcements will result in more than 7,500 jobs for Michigan workers.”
Volkswagen AG is headed to Tennessee to build cars in the U.S. after picking the southern state as the site for its new plant, according to the Associated Press.
Lower Saxony Minister President Christian Wulff, who sits on the supervisory board of Europe's largest automaker, said today the company picked the city after the board debated the merits of the location and its benefits.
Chattanooga, Tenn., beat out bids by Alabama and Michigan for the plant, which is part of the Wolfsburg-based company's strategy to increase its presence in America. See this weekend's Chronicle for more.