SEIDA’s Chairman Explains How the Region Is Preparing for an Automotive Giant
Published Feb 16, 2009
Larry Kernea, manager of the Murphy (N.C.) Power Board, is chairman of the Southeast Industrial Development Association.
Volkswagen is coming to Chattanooga, but exactly where will the automaker’s many suppliers settle?
The Southeast Industrial Development Association represents 22 counties in north Georgia, southwest North Carolina and southeast Tennessee.
All of those counties would love to land VW suppliers, and SEIDA Chairman Larry Kernea, who is manager of the Murphy Power Board in North Carolina, talks about what it will take to succeed.
Q How is the region prepared for Volkswagen?
A This region can capitalize on strengths that have been building for years. Primarily, our workforce is well trained, thanks to community college and technical college programs. For example, technical colleges in our area have really been focusing on teaching machinist skills for the last few years, which shows great foresight now that Volkswagen is arriving.
Q Why is the Chattanooga area ideal for Volkswagen?
A If you drop a 60-mile ring around Chattanooga, there are numerous communities that already have industrial parks in place to welcome VW suppliers. Plus suppliers in Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and the fringe of North Carolina will all have easy access to the plant. Chattanooga has a good transportation system with Interstates 75 and 24, U.S. Highway 64 as well as the U.S. Highway 27 corridor for north/south shipping.
Q What is SEIDA’s key role in the Volkswagen project and its spillover effects?
A SEIDA is the one agency that can coordinate across state lines for VW. For example, say Volkswagen might be interested in possibly having a supplier in Clay County, N.C. Officials from VW can contact SEIDA and pick our brains for all the information on Clay County they could ever want. SEIDA’s job is to compile information on all of the 22 tri-state communities we serve, so VW would be wise to call us. And they have been.
Q What about your Web site, www.seida.info?
A Good information on the communities that SEIDA represents can also be found there. Kathy Johnson, program director at SEIDA, and her staff have been working hard to get everything in place for Volkswagen and their eventual suppliers. County taxes in each community, availability of workforce, local government officials’ phone numbers – VW can have easy access to all that information, thanks to SEIDA.
Story by Kevin Litwin
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