Business Facilities - February 2008 - (Page A-14)

In the past decade, five transportation-related companies have located in the Roanoke Valley, joining the many others that make parts for the automotive, truck, and rail industries. The five companies are Dynax America, Metalsa Roanoke, Virginia Forge, JTEKT Automotive Virginia, and Altec Industries. All have since expanded. It shouldn’t be surprising that the Roanoke region is attractive to transportation companies. After all, Norfolk & Western Railway, a predecessor company to Norfolk Southern grew up with the area in the 19th century. Today, the railroad remains an important part of the economy, but Roanoke Valley companies now make components, including electric power steering systems, wheel hubs, automatic transmission clutch disc plates, hoses and belting, heavy truck parts, and tires. The companies came—and stayed—for a number of reasons. The Roanoke Valley is centrally located in the middle of the East the Southern Automotive Corridor,” says Phillip F. Sparks, executive Our facility [in Botetourt director of the Roanoke Valley EcoCounty, VA] is in a nomic Development Partnership. The Virginia Tech Transportation centralized location along Institute (VTTI), Virginia Tech’s largest university-level research centhe East Coast with an ter, was designated in 1996 as one of three Federal Highway Administraexcellent transportation tion/Federal Transit Administration system and a dedicated Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Centers of Excellence. workforce possessing a Research at VTTI involves topics ranging from real-world driving solid work ethic. research to pavement and lighting to —Jeff Emry, Director of Operations, Altec how the driver interacts with the vehicle. The most visible facet of the Coast, making it easy for Tier 1 and Institute is the 2.2-mile Virginia Tier 2 suppliers to reach auto mak- Smart Road. The state-of-the-art, ers to the south, west, and north full-scale, closed test-bed research within one day. facility eventually will connect “Throw in a skilled workforce, Blacksburg, VA to Interstate 81. It innovative training programs, and features weather-making capabilities the Virginia Tech Transportation (rain, snow, and fog), variable lightInstitute, just 45 minutes from the ing, pavement markings, and on-site central business district, and it is data acquisition. easy to see why the Roanoke Valley Market access and workforce were has become an important stop along two of the factors cited when Altec Industries announced an expansion of its manufacWard’s North America Vehicle Production Summary turing and final assembly Share of Production facility in the Botetourt 2007 2006 Vol. Chg. 2007 2006 Center at Greenfield in U.S. Car 3,924,268 4,366,996 10.1% 25.4% 27.5% late 2006. Altec manufacU.S. Light Truck 6,548,925 6,431,463 1.8% 42.5% 40.5% Total Light Vehicle 10,473,193 10,798,459 3.0% 67.9% 68.0% tures and sells truckU.S. Med./Hvy. Truck 278,924 461,818 39.6% 1.8% 2.9% mounted mobile equipTotal U.S. Vehicle 10,752,117 11,260,277 4.5% 69.7% 70.9% ment for the electric Canada Car 1,342,133 1,427,582 6.0% 8.7% 9.0% utility, telecommunicaCanada Light Truck 1,200,017 1,069,785 12.2% 7.8% 6.7% tions, tree care, and conTotal Light Vehicle 2,542,150 2,497,367 1.8% 16.5% 15.7% tractor industries. Canada Med./Hvy. Truck 36,088 73,999 51.2% 0.2% 0.5% “The team at Altec valTotal Canada Vehicle 2,578,238 2,571,366 0.3% 16.7% 16.2% ues our relationship with Mexico Car 1,209,097 1,097,619 10.2% 7.8% 6.9% Botetourt County, VA Mexico Light Truck 796,604 858,164 7.2% 5.2% 5.4% and the surrounding comTotal Light Vehicle 2,005,701 1,955,783 2.6% 13.0% 12.3% munity,” says Jeff Emry, Mexico Med./Hvy. Truck 89,544 89,735 0.2% 0.6% 0.6% director of operations for Total Mexico Vehicle 2,095,245 2,045,518 2.4% 13.6% 12.9% Total Car 6,475,498 6,892,197 6.0% 42.0% 43.4% Altec. “Our facility is in a Total Light Truck 8,545,546 8,359,412 2.2% 55.4% 52.7% centralized location along Total Light Vehicle 15,021,044 15,251,609 1.5% 97.4% 96.1% the East Coast with an Total Med./Hvy. Truck 404,556 625,552 35.3% 2.6% 3.9% excellent transportation Total Vehicle 15,425,600 15,877,161 2.8% 100.0% 100.0% system and a dedicated workforce possessing a “ ” SOURCE: WARD’S AUTOINFOBANK A-14 A S P E C I A L A D V E RT I S I N G S E C T I O N O F B U S I N E S S FA C I L I T I E S A N D WA R D ’ S A U T O W O R L D

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Business Facilities - February 2008

Business Facilites - February 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots Corporate Moves: Texas Capturing the Creative Class Green with Energy Automotive Opportunities in a Green Economy Corporate Moves: Wyoming Metro Spotlight: Overland Park, KS Metro Spotlight: Long Island, NY Get Ahead in Alabama Indiana: Sending Tech Messages How to Successfully Negotiate a Lease in Today's Real Estate Environment Legislation Spurring Innovation in Kentucky New Center will Propel Ontario's Automotive Future Virginia's Vital Signs Eating Well in the North of France Advertiser Index Ask the Expert

Business Facilities - February 2008

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