Production ready to begin at new Toyota plant in Mississippi
With 1,500 new jobs expected, Blue Springs facility delivers hope to a region
The opening of Toyota’s new Blue Springs, Miss. plant this week will bring at least 1,500 direct jobs to the region and hundreds of Tier 1 and Tier II supplier jobs along with it. It also is bringing hope to a region which has actively courted at auto manufacturer.
The Blue Springs plant is the latest in a series of Mid-South manufacturing facilities which have attracted foreign-owned automakers to a region where incentives, skilled workers and logistical advantages have become appealing. Toyota’s new plant follows Volkswagen’s opening in Chattanooga, Tenn. this summer, and joins the ranks of auto plant openings in Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina in recent years.
The economic impact on the region is expected to be worth the enticement to Toyota. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour signed a $324 million incentive package to help convince Toyota to locate its plant in Blue Springs.
For others, the economic impact is more personal. “"It changed my whole life around. I was struggling before I got this job. It made a difference for me, my family, my kids and even my church. I can pay tithing now," Cassius Perry, 22, told Delaware Online, which reported the story about Blue Springs.
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