THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504130415
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Motorola Inc. bypassed 300 sites across the country for a new $3 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant it decided to build outside of Richmond. But the question in Hampton Roads is, once again, why not us?
Most people speculated that the company's eventual need for 3 million to 4 million gallons of water daily put Hampton Roads out of contention.
But Ann Baldwin, marketing director of Forward Hampton Roads - the economic development arm of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce - said water was not the problem.
``It's a very simple explanation, and it's one we could not overcome,'' Baldwin said. ``They did not want to look at a community that had a heavy military concentration. We were knocked out of the box right away.''
Motorola didn't elaborate on its reasons for preferring a nonmilitary community, but Baldwin speculated that the company perceived the region's economy as too volatile.
``But we are perfect for that project because of the technical skills of our work force,'' she said.
Secretary of Commerce and Trade Robert T. Skunda said Wednesday that although Hampton Roads may have had sites that offered enough water, some locations the company preferred may have been eliminated because they lacked it.
``The fact that this is a high-volume water user would probably restrict the areas of Hampton Roads that would be more conducive to their needs,'' Skunda said.
Whatever the reason, Motorola's choice of Goochland County for the plant doesn't mean Hampton Roads workers, construction contractors or companies will not get a slice of the pie. The plant is of such magnitude, in a growing industry, with high-paying manufacturing jobs, that it may be one of a few industrial recruits for which state officials cannot exaggerate the significance.
Skunda likely was accurate Wednesday when he said: ``I don't think there's a single economic development opportunity of this league in the United States.''
The last ``big fish'' economic development project that drew national attention was Mercedes-Benz's announcement two years ago that it would locate a $360 million, 1,500-employee sport-utility vehicle plant in Vance, Ala.
Motorola's plans for the Goochland County project make Mercedes look like Hot Wheels. Motorola will employ 5,000, with an average pay of $35,000 a year, and the complex will cost nearly 10 times as much as Mercedes-Benz's Alabama plant to build.
Motorola has no timetable to begin the project and has yet to decide which unit of its $6.9 billion per year semiconductor products sector will set up shop outside Richmond.
Hugh Keogh, president of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, thinks Motorola's work force - four out of five will be hired locally - will come from a 70-mile radius.
``There's a pent-up demand for those kinds of jobs, and Virginians have demonstrated a willingness to travel for those type of jobs,'' Keogh said. ``I suspect there may even be some coming from Hampton Roads because of the technical nature of the work force down there.''
Hampton Roads and other parts of Virginia also may have a chance to feed off the Motorola project. Semiconductors are not only used in personal computers and cellular phones, but in just about every other electronic device made these days: coffeemakers, stereos, even anti-lock brakes.
Other states have developed reputations as havens for cutting-edge products based on their initial recruitment of just one large computer industry company.
Idaho, for instance, has seen a 36 percent jump in business start-ups primarily due to Hewlett-Packard and Micron manufacturing plants, according to a report by U.S. News & World Report. And New Mexico's 17 percent income-growth rate came mostly from an Intel microchip plant and a Motorola cellular phone plant.
``Best of all,'' Keogh said, ``this is technology-oriented and will help restore Virginia to the cutting edge.'' MEMO: Staff writer Mylene Mangalindan contributed to this report.
ILLUSTRATION: BAD NEWS
Some speculate that access to an adequate water supply was the
problem. Others say it was the area's heavy military concentration.
GOOD NEWS
The area may be able to feed off the project. The plant could draw
other technology-based firms to Hampton Roads.
by CNB