Gov. Haley Barbour announced this morning that Toyota is moving forward to complete its Blue Springs plant in north Mississippi. Current plans call for the first cars to roll off the assembly lines in fall 2011.

"Toyota is moving forward to equip and begin production at its Mississippi plant. We're delighted, but not surprised," Barbour said in a statement. "We've had good reason to keep our faith in them. Through a global economic crisis, Toyota kept its financial commitments to the state and to local schools, proving they are not just the world's premier automaker but a valuable community partner as well."

The Japanese car manufacturer announced plans in February 2007 to build its 10th U.S. production facility at the 1,700-acre site in Blue Springs, near Tupelo, and originally planned to produce cars there this year. Mississippi committed approximately $294 million to the project to assist with site preparation, infrastructure and training, according to the release.

"Today's announcement is a validation of our strong partnership with Toyota, and we look forward to the 2,000 jobs the Blue Springs plant will create, as well as a like or greater number of supplier jobs," said Gray Swoope, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority.  

Previous Comments

ID

158228

Comment

Toyota initially planned to permanently halt this project but the accelerator got stuck and now it's full-steam ahead.

Author

jbreland

Date

2010-06-17T10:14:58-06:00

ID

158231

Comment

The accelerator got stuck? ROTFL! Perfect. :)

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2010-06-17T11:08:42-06:00