Do you remember back in 1992 when Omaha competed with Spartanburg, SC for BMW's first auto plant in the US?
I've been thinking about this lately, what are Omaha's chances today for landing such a plant.
What do you think about Omaha having an auto plant if another manufacturer comes up with a proposal? Where would be the best spot to locate such a large plant? And do you think this is something Omaha should be more proactive about?
Archives: BMW courtship long and rocky
Published on: 06/24/1992
By FRED MONK
Business Editor
For more than two years, the German automaker had been toying with several locations in Anderson County. State officials thought their efforts to land BMW had sewn up the auto plant.
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Anderson County -- where the state had land to offer BMW -- was out. Spartanburg County was in. But the state had no sites pinned down in Spartanburg.
And Nebraska was breathing down South Carolina's neck in the BMW competition. There, Union Pacific railway had a site next to Omaha's airport it would give BMW.
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Meanwhile, the project had been narrowed down to a handful of sites, including Anderson and Omaha, Neb. At that stage, Campbell and the State Development Board took charge of the project.
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Nebraska also emerged as a strong competitor, offering more than $100 million in incentives to the automaker.
Among the incentives that Nebraska offered was financial help to offset the cost of air cargo, in addition to money for site acquisition, site preparation and worker training. The state also offered lower utility costs than South Carolina.
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Power was also on the table. Nebraska's public electric utility allowed that state to offer BMW a sweet deal.
Toyota's North American plants consume 400 to 800 acres of land. Show me where on this map, this is going to fit? I'm not sure if there would even be this much space if they were to buy out Airlite Plastics, Nogg Paper, John Day, and others.
Back in the mid-80s, Omaha Metro was also a finalist for the original Saturn assembly plant, which ultimately landed in Spring Hill, TN.
And in the early 90s, Mercedes included Omaha Metro in its final 6 for considration of its SUV plant. Again, that one didn't land here. But it proves the area is certainly looked upon as viable for this type of operation.
Yeah, it would be tough to find space on the Nebraska side near Eppley. I wonder what parcel of land Union Pacific would have given up in 1992 near the airport - the Qwest Center area? What if that new connection was built accross the Missouri River to 680 - that would help with an Iowa location near Eppley.
And Lou, I didn't see that rumor post - thanks and I hope it happens!!
With all the GM plants closing around the country, I would think a ton of the former employees from those plants would fock to Omaha for those jobs. It would be key if we wanted to make a big push for the 2010 census.
Great Story about the BMW Plant on Grow Omaha this past weekend. Â Rod Moseman, Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the Omaha Chamber was on and talked about about it.
Brad wrote:Great Story about the BMW Plant on Grow Omaha this past weekend. Rod Moseman, Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the Omaha Chamber was on and talked about about it.
Brad wrote:Great Story about the BMW Plant on Grow Omaha this past weekend. Rod Moseman, Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the Omaha Chamber was on and talked about about it.
Don't have time to listen now, is there speculation of a new auto plant in Omaha?
No.
Rod is retiring from the Chamber after 35 years and they were doing a "career in review" show. Â Talked about BMW, Claas, Yahoo, Gallup, etc. Â Very interesting show when you get time.
Brad wrote:Great Story about the BMW Plant on Grow Omaha this past weekend. Rod Moseman, Senior Vice President of Economic Development for the Omaha Chamber was on and talked about about it.
Don't have time to listen now, is there speculation of a new auto plant in Omaha?
No.
Rod is retiring from the Chamber after 35 years and they were doing a "career in review" show. Talked about BMW, Claas, Yahoo, Gallup, etc. Very interesting show when you get time.
I didn't listen to the whole thing. Â Did he talk about Mercedes too?
