Automaker recruiting shifts into high gear at 'megasite'

TVA-certified land puts Limestone 'on radar screen'

For local leaders trying to lure industry to Limestone County's newly minted "megasite," now comes the hard part.

Tom Hill, director of the Greater Limestone County Economic Development Association, said he wants the 2,000-acre site to emulate successful automotive manufacturing plants in Tuscaloosa, Talladega and Montgomery counties.

"The great stories of Mercedes, Honda and Hyundai are examples of what can happen if you land an assembly plant," Hill said.

The site, between Interstate 65 and U.S. 31 north of Garrett Road, was certified as a megasite on April 9 by McCallum Sweeney Consulting and the Tennessee Valley Authority as meeting all criteria necessary to build an auto plant.

The megasite is the first in Alabama and the ninth in the Tennessee Valley. The other sites, which also compete for industry, are in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.

Hill said megasites put communities in good position to attract industry because of the media perks they get. All megasites are placed on TVA's Web site, Hill said, which earns the attention of industries worldwide.

"It creates an awareness ... that you may not have gotten before," Hill said. "It puts you on the radar screen."

To further lure automakers, a computer-generated image of the site includes lots where large assembly buildings could be placed. Another potential draw - pipes and sewers - is a work in progress.

If an auto plant locates to Limestone like Hill hopes, the first phase of development would bring several hundred jobs to the area. The jobs likely would pay better than most in Limestone, Hill said, raising the area's standard of living.

As for recruiting workers, Limestone has an ally in Alabama Industrial Development Training, Hill said.

AIDT trains Alabamians interested in companies that need workers. The training emphasizes ethics before AIDT recommends them to employers, Hill said.

Not surprisingly, the workers should come from the valley, Hill said.

"We find that folks in North Alabama will travel about an hour at most for a good job," Hill said. "I predict about a 50-mile radius."

Judy Page, who owns 687 acres on the megasite, said wetland areas would be developed during construction but replaced if industry builds there.