Tunica lands a $1 Billion deal

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These are the kinds of things I just shake my head and wonder, what is our mayor, our Chamber, our DDA, our State doing when Mississippi beats us to deals like this one (from Memphis Business Journal):

When Tunica County started construction on its 2,221-acre Metro Mega Site last year, the county was looking for a large industrial client in the market for a “shovel ready” space.

After upstart car manufacturing GreenTech Automotive, Inc., announced its intention this month to build a $1 billion hybrid automotive facility on 1,500 acres at the site, the county’s economic development strategy looked like it might be paying off earlier than expected. But Lyn Arnold, executive director of the Tunica County Chamber of Commerce, says Tunica’s efforts to attract more manufacturers are continuing to move forward.

In addition to the Mega Site, Arnold says there are plans to develop a 200-acre industrial park near the Tunica Airport. Another 1,000 acres near the Highway 61/Interstate 69 split could be developed into industrial space as well.

Tunica is also courting warehousing and distribution clients and some energy projects, but hasn’t gotten to the negotiation phase.

And despite the potential of GreenTech’s plans, which at present are still uncertain, Arnold says Tunica County is not slowing down its courtship of potential businesses nor its planning for further industrial expansion.

“We want to diversify past gaming and agriculture and we’re prepared and capable of doing multiple projects,” Arnold says. “We’re happy to accept that challenge because we’ve got plenty of property.”

The site, which was designed by Allen & Hoshall, includes connections for utilities and may eventually include a speculative building to show potential investors what their facilities could look like.

The county has an option on the land and any company looking to build on the site would have to buy the land, says Clifton Johnson, Tunica County administrator.

Arnold says the area has come a long way from where it was a few years ago, when it had 15 acres of industrial property and I-69 was just a planned project. She says Tunica became more competitive in the industrial arena when I-69 opened in 2006. Since then, the city has been unsuccessful in luring new industry until being connected with GreenTech through the Mississippi Development Authority in June 2008. The company had looked at six other states, but brought its engineers to the area in August 2008 and committed to the area. Due diligence on the project was interrupted by a lawsuit between GreenTech’s founders, Yung Yeung and Xiaolin Wang, that was settled in July.

Wang is moving forward on the project with GreenTech, and the company expects to start construction next spring, with a target opening date of 2012, says Gary Tang, COO of GreenTech.

Once it gets under way, the project could create up to 2,000 construction jobs; GreenTech is anticipating hiring 1,500 workers initially. Parts suppliers could create up to 400 more jobs in the area, and Arnold says the ultimate impact of the project could be the creation of 6,000 jobs when the plant is open.