Surely by now you’ve heard North Carolina and its Greensboro-Randolph megasite lost out to Alabama for the Toyota-Mazda joint auto manufacturing plant:
North Carolina lost out because it does not have the supply chain logistics that the car companies want, according to one of the sources. The winning state was not disclosed but for months Alabama has been seen as the only rival to North Carolina for the project.
Toyota officials did not immediately return calls for comment. The N.C. Department of Commerce declined to comment.
That last sentence is most interesting because what strikes me when reading news accounts is the silence among local officials regarding the bad news. 
The story accompanying the Greensboro News & Record’s big headline was basically an op-ed analysis without quotes from any local officials. My guess is the N&R reporter could not get anyone on the phone.
The Asheboro Courier-Tribune was able to get reaction from a couple of Randolph County officials:
N.C. Sen. Jerry Tillman, who represents a portion of Randolph County, said the General Assembly has already passed legislation that would allow the state to offer incentives to a major company willing to invest “X” amount of dollars and provide “X” number of jobs. “We have that (incentive) money set aside,” he said.
“It’s devastating news,” Tillman said of the unofficial news concerning the Alabama site. “We’ve done everything possible and the package we put together met all their needs.”
Tillman could only guess that Toyota-Mazda’s decision came down to the fact that Alabama already has an auto manufacturing plant along with all the ancillary businesses to supply various parts.
“But the (Greensboro-Randolph) megasite is still there and now it’s nationally known,” Tillman said. “We’re not giving up. It’s not a final blow.
…..Randolph County Manager Hal Johnson had similar thoughts.
“Regardless of Toyota’s decision, we still have the land to make ours the No. 1 megasite,” he said. “I’m confident the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite is in a position to attract a major industry. And we have the No. 1 public-private partnership in North Carolina.
“Even before Toyota-Mazda looked at our site, we were marketing worldwide,” Johnson said. “Those efforts have never stopped with the hopes to land a major employer, and I know we will.
“Everyone’s disappointed, but you look on the positive side,” Johnson continued. “We received international attention and you can’t ask for more than that. Although I’m disappointed, I’m still optimistic for the future.”
We can only assume Greensboro will press ahead with plans to run water and sewer to the megasite at a cost of almost $30 million in the hopes that another interested party will materialize.
