Everyone seemed stunned last Tuesday when word came that Volkswagen had selected Chattanooga as the site to build its plant rather than Limestone County.

I thought our site would be selected because I knew that local people involved in the negotiations with Volkswagen had agreed to meet every demand they made for this Limestone County site.

I was looking forward to Volkswagen providing 2,000 new jobs for many folks in North Alabama who need jobs due to Delphi and other companies shutting down all or much of their production. It would have meant more companies locating nearby to support Volkswagen. This would have been a big economic shot in the arm for North Alabama.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said the package offered to Volkswagen by the state, Huntsville and Limestone County was worth more than $385 million dollars, including $205 million in cash, and $181 million in tax breaks, job training and other considerations. The governor of Tennessee said its package was $400 million or more but he did not release details.

When our people are negotiating to meet the demands of such a company, they have to weigh the cost of meeting the demands against the potential revenue and benefits it will bring into the community in the future. The cost of landing such an attractive industry is high, and it does not end when the buildings are built.

The mayor of Tuscaloosa told me his city maintains a fire station for the Mercedes plant, which is located about 15 or 20 miles from downtown Tuscaloosa. The cost of this fire protection to the city is approximately $1 million a year. Tuscaloosa will be paying these and other costs for many years but they must have determined it was worth it to have the prosperity such a plant brings. The Chattanooga site was one of eight Tennessee Valley Authority megasites that have been certified as being ready for construction. The term certified means the site meets all necessary requirements, including environmental issues. Four of these sites have been sold in Tennessee and Mississippi, and four remain for sale – two in Tennessee, one in Kentucky and the one in Limestone County.

We now know that the Limestone County megasite was not the site that was being considered in Limestone County. The site under consideration was in the Greenbrier community. One important thing we have learned from this selection process is that we actually have two sites in Limestone County capable of accommodating a plant of this magnitude.

I believe the robotics center that will soon be built at Calhoun Community College will become much more important in future site selections. A robotics center will be a valuable asset to future industrial prospects who are looking at these two Limestone County sites.

I was not involved in the intense negotiations with Volkswagen, but I want to commend Limestone County Commission Chairman David Seibert, Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer and her planning staff, and Gov. Bob Riley and his economic-development staff for going after this plant for our area. They have worked for the past six months trying to determine how to meet the demands of Volkswagen, and when decision time came, they put it all on the line for us.

I don’t know if anyone will ever know exactly why Volkswagen chose Chattanooga. We do know the Chattanooga site had been passed over by two major automobile manufactures in recent years, and that may be the reason for Tennessee making the pot as sweet as possible. Another turndown might have put a hex on the site for future consideration.

The Chattanooga site was an ammunition dump many years ago, and I understand it will be monitored for the next 20 years because of potential problems. On the other hand, some have said the site had more infrastructure in place than Limestone County’s cotton fields, so there are pros and cons to each site.

This experience has taught us many things, not the least of which is the importance of cities and communities cooperating. Other people have discovered Athens and Limestone County and have determined that they are attractive places for people to live and work. I predict that this will not be the last time opportunity knocks.