This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

(WGHP) — The political leaders were there. All of them.

The business leaders were there. Many of them.

The smiles were certainly there. You could not miss them.

Everyone came to the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite on Monday to celebrate a huge announcement: Toyota would build a battery manufacturing facility that could be one of the biggest investments in North Carolina’s history.

There was plenty of hype and even more hope. The $1.2 billion the auto manufacturer is investing to create batteries for hybrid and electronic vehicles will bring jobs and the promise of more. This was an investment in clean energy and the environment of the future.

The 1,000-acre site near Liberty that Toyota and Mazda had eschewed three years ago to build a plant in Alabama suddenly was now the hottest piece of turf in the state.

Toyota in a wholly opened subsidiary will invest $1.272 billion during the next few years and create 1,750 jobs at what will be called Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina.

There could be a Phase 2 of the project that would push those figures to 3,875 jobs and an investment of about $3 billion.

The median salary for those new employees would be $62,234. Community colleges in Randolph and Guilford counties would get millions in state grants to train the workforce needed for these jobs.

The economic estimates suggest that by 2044 the impact on NC’s gross domestic product would be $9.6 billion, which would equate to an increase of $35 million in net revenue for the state.

Mark Poole, a financial specialist with the NC Department of Commerce, delivered all those numbers during a conference call when members of the Economic Investment Committee approved about $271.4 million in incentives to lure Toyota. He spoke about three hours before a pitched tent was filled with happy people in Randolph County.

Poole’s boss, NC Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders, was the opener for what was a sort of circus of celebration under that tent.

From Gov. Roy Cooper to Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan to Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore everyone expressed their pleasure and gratitude. They pointed out their political friends in the audience. They exchanged gifts.

Megasite Chair Brent Christiansen and Bryan Foundation President Jim Melvin, the two chief developers for the megasite, saw their dreams finally realized. A car manufacturer always had been their primary goal.

Oddly, after so many years and so much toil, this process was seemed to be a whirlwind. Toyota Motor North America had announced Oct. 18 that it would build such a facility in the U.S. to begin production in 2025, starting with batteries for hybrid electric vehicles. Toyota said it would select its site by the end of the year.

Then the NC General Assembly last month approved $338 million toward improvements that could lure a manufacturer to the megasite and specified site development and incentives for a company that would invest at least $1 billion and create 1,750 jobs.

And suddenly both Bloomberg News and Automotive News were reporting that Toyota had selected North Carolina.

All of that worked out to a tee.

As it turned out, Poole said, North Carolina beat out nine other states that teased a wide array of incentives, including land, infrastructure, fees and all the stuff governments usually proffer for big economic pushes.

But Chris Reynolds, chief administration officer for Toyota North America, laid out the reasons Toyota chose the state. He cited:

  • “Extensive and well-maintained highways and railways” at the megasite.
  • The presences of “four international airports and two seaports” in the state.
  • North Carolina is “consistently ranked one of the best states to do business in.”
  • A “world-renowned higher education system.” He joked that he already had been asked about his loyalties to the various schools.
  • “An outstanding and diverse workforce” from which to train and develop employees.

“The world will look at North Carolina as a hub for clean energy and clean energy jobs,” Cooper said. “As the secretary [Sanders] said, Toyota could have chosen anyone for this battery plant, and they chose us. We need to show our commitment is great to this.”