Metal Bulletin Ltd., a trade publication, reported Thursday that Limestone County appears likely to land a Volkswagen AG assembly plant rather than Chattanooga.
The online publication, citing anonymous “economic development sources,” said Chattanooga may get a smaller VW engine plant.
According to previous reports, Volkswagen management will decide on a site Tuesday, with ratification by its board of directors July 14.
Metal Bulletin reported that in addition to bringing 2,000 direct jobs, the assembly plant would attract up to 5,000 supplier jobs in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.
Germany-based VW announced in May that it would choose a site in Alabama, Tennessee or Michigan. A report in the Detroit Free Press last week speculated that Michigan is out of the running. Metal Limited also said Michigan appears to be off VW’s list.
The site under consideration in Alabama is at Greenbrier Road and Old Alabama 20 in the Huntsville-annexed portion of eastern Limestone County. The site is about nine miles northeast of downtown Decatur.
VW has been studying a site 12 miles northeast of downtown Chattanooga, called Enterprise South, at the same time.
Both states have been actively preparing the sites.
Alabama Department of Transportation’s efforts have involved surveying and engineering work aimed at an enlargement and realignment of Greenbrier Road, improving access from the site to Interstate 65.
Most of the efforts in Chattanooga have involved flattening the land and rerouting creeks.
The Limestone site “would be located close to Huntsville, a center for U.S. space program activities and also a hub for high-technology and robotics firms,” Metal Bulletin reported. “It boasts a highly skilled work force, and the Huntsville area is the strongest part of the state economically.”
The publication also mentioned close ties between Germany and Alabama, including the Mercedes-Benz AG plant near Tuscaloosa and the ThyssenKrupp AG steel plant under construction near Mobile.
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