Guide to Economic Development in the Global Auto Industry - S36

INDIANA

Eldor's new U.S.
plant takes shape
in Botetourt
County, Va.

Indiana responded fast when German
tech supplier called

hen the German supplier ElringKlinger
looked at Fort Wayne, Ind., for a $23
million investment in green-tech automotive
components this year, city officials moved fast
to prepare.
Fort Wayne quickly granted a tax abatement to a local builder, who began building
ElringKlinger's manufacturing plant on spec,
says Dan Watson, a spokesman for Greater
Fort Wayne Inc., the local economic development agency. As a result, ElringKlinger was
able to schedule the start of equipment installation in July.
It was a desirable prize for the city, as well
as for Indiana. The German company supplies
such next-generation auto technologies as fuel
cell and battery systems, lightweighting components and heat shielding systems. The new
Fort Wayne site - its fifth U.S. plant - will produce aluminum shielding systems for acoustic
and thermal vehicle protection, as well performing logistics, IT and r&d operations.

ElringKlinger chose Fort Wayne for its proximity to nearby customers, as well as to its
own plants in Michigan. The company supplies a number of U.S. automakers.
To seal the deal, the Indiana Economic
Development Corp. granted ElringKlinger $1
million in tax credits and $200,000 in performance-based training grants. The state economic development agency said it wants to
continue to spur such advanced manufacturing investment in the state.
"Indiana is focused on creating a diversified economy by propelling key industries like
advanced manufacturing," the development
agency said in a statement. "By supporting
the culture, resources and strategic initiatives
needed to propel new advancements in this
industry, we'll ensure that Indiana remains a
hub for innovation and continues to create
great jobs in manufacturing and the growing
tech sector."

- stephanie hernandez mcgavin

NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina ready for another shot

s 2017 ended, Chinese tire manufacturer
olina, said state officials learned a few things
Triangle Tyre announced it would invest
in the hard-fought Toyota-Mazda contest, and
$580 million to build its first U.S. plant in Tarthey are now ready to pitch even harder for the
boro, N.C., creating 800 jobs at the eastern
next auto plant.
North Carolina site.
One lesson was that aggressive inThat project followed the opencentives are needed to help get coming of Linamar Corp.'s $200 million
panies up and ready for market faster.
aluminum die-casting plant in the
The other was that megasites - cerstate in partnership with Switzertified, construction-ready industrial
land's GF Automotive. Linamar CEO
parcels - are the winning ticket to atLinda Hasenfratz recently noted that
tracting an automaker.
Linamar now has four plants in the
The state already had been working
state and added, "There are more
with communities to identify and cerChristopher Chung
plans coming in the future."
tify megasites, and North Carolina now
North Carolina has seen substantial investhas four big properties to offer.
ment from automotive suppliers. And this year,
The state now has a new resolve, Chung said.
those projects helped soften the blow of miss"Because of the work in developing sites,"
ing out on the bid to attract a $1.6 billion Toyhe said, "and because of the work getting to an
ota-Mazda joint-venture auto assembly plant.
agreement about what it takes in incentives, for
The project instead went to North Carolina's
the next opportunity we'll say, 'We know what
final competitor, Alabama.
we did last time, let's do that again and hope
But Christopher Chung, CEO of the Ecothe outcome is a little bit different.'"
nomic Development Partnership of North Car- stephanie hernandez mcgavin

E C O N O M I C D E V E L O P M E N T G U I D E / J U LY 2 0 1 8

VIRGINIA

Italy's Eldor looked
at Virginia from
land and sea

o build its first U.S. auto parts plant, Eldor Corp. zeroed in on Virginia as an ideal
crossroads of land and sea.
Eldor, of Orsenigo, Italy, is a leading supplier of vehicle ignition coils in Europe, with four
plants in Italy, Turkey, China and Brazil. But it
had yet to set up shop in North America, and
U.S. customers were beckoning.
Its $75 million investment in Botetourt
County, in Virginia's Roanoke Valley, would allow the newcomer to reach customers easily by
land. Eldor Corp. USA CEO Stefano Concezzi
said the location also will help Eldor draw talent from two close-by universities: the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.
But it also allowed Eldor project leaders to
rely on the site's straight-shot proximity to the
port at Norfolk, Va. Eldor needed to ship the
new plant's entire production line from Italy.
That access was critical to getting the
350-worker plant built and open in 2018, said
Concezzi. By May, plant construction was
complete and testing underway, with commercial production to begin this summer, he said.
Speed to market is vital for Eldor.
Botetourt County provided a performance-based grant of $1.3 million to support
the project, and Virginia's Development Opportunity Fund granted $3.2 million. Other benefits came from the Port of Virginia Economic
and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant
Program, as well as worker-training funding
from the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

- stephanie hernandez mcgavin

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