Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993 TAG: 9309240414
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY MARK FOLK LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I have heard nothing from them," Gov. Jim Hunt said of Mercedes. "I would suggest . . . that probably the people who really know something about it aren't talking and the people who are talking don't know anything."
The Washington Post, quoting unidentified sources, reported Thursday that Mercedes would build its $300 million, 1,500-employee plant in North Carolina.
But Mercedes spokeswoman Linda Paulmeno said a decision has not been made and several states are still in the running. Mercedes expects to announce a decision next week.
But evidence that the Mebane, N.C., area has been the subject of increased scrutiny recently by Mercedes or its proxies continued to mount.
An official of Southern Region Industrial Realty, a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Corp., declined to comment on land options his company filed last week at the Alamance County Courthouse in Graham, N.C.
But Randy Wheeless, a spokesman for Duke Power, confirmed that his company worked with Southern Region to secure the 1,000 acres for Mercedes' consideration.
A plant would be serviced by both a Norfolk Southern rail line and Duke Power cables, and it is not uncommon for such companies to become involved with the state in industrial recruitment efforts.
Wheeless did not know, however, where Mercedes stood in its decision-making process.
Crews from the North Carolina Department of Transportation also were in the area Thursday, surveying roads surrounding the property, although construction of a planned extension of North Carolina 119 isn't scheduled until after 2000.
"We do have some concerns that if Mercedes announces that site next week, we may need to do the work early to provide access," said Don Morton, state highway design engineer.
Mebane Mayor Glendale Stephenson said he was surprised by the work and what its timing might mean in regard to Mercedes.
"I'm more excited about that news than I am about the report in today's paper," he said.
\ THE VIRGINIA VIEW\ \ Beth Doughty, executive director, Roanoke Valley Economic Development\ Partnership: "I would like to think the innate advantages were the same.\ Virginia has the ports, Virginia has the skilled labor force. Of course, these\ deals are made with what you put on the table, not with what you already have.\ If we can salvage the good news out of this, it's here we have an auto\ manufacturer that is going to need some suppliers. We may be able to get some\ spinoffs from that."\ \ Hugh Keogh, president, Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Richmond: "I don't think\ it's a new lesson. I think it's a reiteration that the states in the Southeast\ that we compete with are very aggressive and very efficient at putting packages\ together. The Carolinas are certainly very effective."\ - LON WAGNER
by CNB