Toyota moving from Cali to Plano, Texas
#151
The aweful truth is... Most of us are all replacable. The ones that are not can always tele-commute. The big corps will keep the ones they want and don't mind the rest. Its all about the money.
#152
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (1)
LA is #1, Atlanta and Dallas isnt there. Austin is though because theres only one hwy that goes through town
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorze...es-in-the-u-s/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorze...es-in-the-u-s/
#153
Lexus Fanatic
L.A., in contrast, even with a big network of freeways going in and out of that city, is just a complete ocean of cars....it isn't known as the center of the nation's car-culture for nothing. The enormous number of vehicles and incredible suburban-sprawl just swamps even the already-vast network of roads there. Unfortunately, here in the D.C. area, our own suburban sprawl, from its also-huge size, is starting to rival that of L.A./SoCal.
Last edited by mmarshall; 05-01-14 at 05:54 PM.
#155
Jim Lentz exposes more details behind Toyota's move to Texas
Toyota's North American CEO Jim Lentz has already given us a rough idea of what prompted the company's surprise move to the Dallas suburb of Plano, TX from its longstanding headquarters in Torrance, CA. A new story from The Los Angeles Times, though, delivers even more detail from Lentz on the reasoning for the move, what other cities were considered and why the company's current host city wasn't even in the running.
Of course, one of the more popular reasons being bandied about includes the $40 million Texas was set to give the company for the move, as well as the state's generous tax rates. According to Lentz, though, the reason Toyota chose Plano over a group of finalists made up of Atlanta, Charlotte and Denver, was far simpler than that – it was about consolidating its marketing, sales, engineering and production teams in a region that's closer to the company's seat of manufacturing in the south.
"It doesn't make sense to have oversight of manufacturing 2,000 miles away from where the cars were made," Lentz told The Times. "Geography is the reason not to have our headquarters in California."
Geography isn't the only reason, though. Toyota is aiming for a more harmonious coming together of its far-flung and disparate divisions, which is something that couldn't be provided by moving everyone to Torrance. "We needed a neutral site," Lentz said, pointing out that moving engineering employees based in Kentucky to Torrance could give the impression that "sales was taking over."
Lentz said a conversation with Global President Akio Toyoda kick started the idea of moving, as the company sought to organize its North American business "for the next 50 years."
As for why Plano won, there are a number of reasons, one of which was the area's cost of living. According to The Times, the average house in the LA area costs $515,000 – in Dallas, it's less than half that, at $217,500. Toyota also considered the climate, access to direct flights to Japan (Plano is served by the sprawling Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport) and the quality of the area's schools as factors behind Plano's victory.
Of course, one of the more popular reasons being bandied about includes the $40 million Texas was set to give the company for the move, as well as the state's generous tax rates. According to Lentz, though, the reason Toyota chose Plano over a group of finalists made up of Atlanta, Charlotte and Denver, was far simpler than that – it was about consolidating its marketing, sales, engineering and production teams in a region that's closer to the company's seat of manufacturing in the south.
"It doesn't make sense to have oversight of manufacturing 2,000 miles away from where the cars were made," Lentz told The Times. "Geography is the reason not to have our headquarters in California."
Geography isn't the only reason, though. Toyota is aiming for a more harmonious coming together of its far-flung and disparate divisions, which is something that couldn't be provided by moving everyone to Torrance. "We needed a neutral site," Lentz said, pointing out that moving engineering employees based in Kentucky to Torrance could give the impression that "sales was taking over."
Lentz said a conversation with Global President Akio Toyoda kick started the idea of moving, as the company sought to organize its North American business "for the next 50 years."
As for why Plano won, there are a number of reasons, one of which was the area's cost of living. According to The Times, the average house in the LA area costs $515,000 – in Dallas, it's less than half that, at $217,500. Toyota also considered the climate, access to direct flights to Japan (Plano is served by the sprawling Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport) and the quality of the area's schools as factors behind Plano's victory.
#156
Lexus Fanatic
Your main airport, BTW, is the one that really takes the cake. I've seen some figures that show Hartsfield-Jackson to be currently the most congested airport on the planet. Before I retired (from FAA), I did a lot of the work on the FAA charting required from the latest runway addition there.
#160
How Charlotte lost to Plano without even knowing it was dealing with Toyota
Toyota officials paid secret visit to Charlotte before sending headquarters, 4,000 jobs, to Texas
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...#storylink=cpy
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...l#.U2qWBF6pu2x
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/201...#storylink=cpy
Toyota officials paid a secret visit to Charlotte earlier this year as they considered new sites for their corporate headquarters, but the East Coast location and a lack of direct flights to Japan apparently helped convince them to send their 4,000 jobs to Texas instead.
After a search that started with about 100 locations, the automaker announced last week that it was consolidating manufacturing, sales, marketing and operations headquarters into one campus in the Dallas suburb of Plano.
N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker told The Observer Tuesday that Charlotte finished second to Texas in pursuit of what state officials called “Project One.”
“We were the last two considered,” she said, referring to Charlotte and Plano. “I think that speaks very well of North Carolina and Charlotte.”
Decker and Charlotte economic-development leaders said the world’s largest automaker never identified itself to North Carolina officials, even when its emissaries met with state and local representatives.
Toyota officials won’t say why. They declined to comment on the merits of specific locations considered during the process.
In explaining the company’s rationale for choosing a site, one official said Toyota wanted a “neutral location” with no existing major Toyota presence.
Mike Michels, a vice president with Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., said the company weighed economic considerations, geography, climate, the cost of living and the education systems, among other things.
“With manufacturing locations in many U.S. states, Canada and Mexico, we chose a location that better supports our diverse geographic footprint, in a time zone that allows us to communicate better with most of our operations, and has direct flights to all our North American operations and Japan,” he wrote Tuesday in an email to the Observer.
There currently are no nonstop flights between Charlotte and Asia. While US Airways didn’t operate service to Asia, its merger partner American Airlines has a major trans-Pacific presence.
“It would be good to have,” said David Swenson, a senior vice president with the Charlotte Regional Partnership, which markets the region to companies. “There’s over 90 Japanese-owned companies in the region.”
An American spokeswoman said there aren’t any plans right now to begin nonstop service from Charlotte to Asia. The airline is expanding Asian service at its biggest hub, Dallas/Fort Worth, with two new flights to China starting next month.
Jeff Edge, senior vice president for economic development at the Charlotte Chamber, said West Coast firms are often reluctant to move to the other side of the country because long-distance moves “can create a sense of apprehension for personnel,” he said.
To win the project, Texas offered Toyota $40 million in incentives, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Decker, the commerce secretary, said she couldn’t recall the specifics of North Carolina’s incentives package. The Observer has filed a public records request with her department seeking the details.
She and local officials were left in the odd position of explaining how they lost a company they never officially knew they were fighting for.
Toyota officials used corporate real estate consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle as an intermediary on the site selection project.
Local officials say the consultants initiated inquiries about a Charlotte relocation, but never identified Toyota as the subject of Project One.
Swenson said about a half-dozen people from Toyota and the consulting firm met with the Charlotte Regional Partnership and the Chamber at the partnership’s offices in the NASCAR Plaza building on South Caldwell Street.
He couldn’t recall the date, other than that it was a couple of months ago.
Swenson said it isn’t uncommon for companies to visit cities incognito.
“There’s a lot at stake in terms of the corporate decision and the impact,” he said. “You have families you’re dealing with in the employee base. If they’re a public company and the decision gets out in the media, how does that impact corporate operations?”
But Edge said companies on major relocation projects almost always identify themselves to finalist cities to make sure locals want their company and are making their best offer.
“I find that very strange,” he said of Toyota’s secrecy with Charlotte. “The only reason I can see for not (disclosing) their identity to their ‘finalist’ communities is that they had already made a decision and were negotiating with the winner but did not want to risk word leaking out” from other finalists.
Decker said she doesn’t yet know all the details of why Toyota passed on Charlotte, but plans to get a debriefing on it.
“It’s never just one thing,” she said. “These decisions are very complex.”
After a search that started with about 100 locations, the automaker announced last week that it was consolidating manufacturing, sales, marketing and operations headquarters into one campus in the Dallas suburb of Plano.
N.C. Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker told The Observer Tuesday that Charlotte finished second to Texas in pursuit of what state officials called “Project One.”
“We were the last two considered,” she said, referring to Charlotte and Plano. “I think that speaks very well of North Carolina and Charlotte.”
Decker and Charlotte economic-development leaders said the world’s largest automaker never identified itself to North Carolina officials, even when its emissaries met with state and local representatives.
Toyota officials won’t say why. They declined to comment on the merits of specific locations considered during the process.
In explaining the company’s rationale for choosing a site, one official said Toyota wanted a “neutral location” with no existing major Toyota presence.
Mike Michels, a vice president with Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., said the company weighed economic considerations, geography, climate, the cost of living and the education systems, among other things.
“With manufacturing locations in many U.S. states, Canada and Mexico, we chose a location that better supports our diverse geographic footprint, in a time zone that allows us to communicate better with most of our operations, and has direct flights to all our North American operations and Japan,” he wrote Tuesday in an email to the Observer.
There currently are no nonstop flights between Charlotte and Asia. While US Airways didn’t operate service to Asia, its merger partner American Airlines has a major trans-Pacific presence.
“It would be good to have,” said David Swenson, a senior vice president with the Charlotte Regional Partnership, which markets the region to companies. “There’s over 90 Japanese-owned companies in the region.”
An American spokeswoman said there aren’t any plans right now to begin nonstop service from Charlotte to Asia. The airline is expanding Asian service at its biggest hub, Dallas/Fort Worth, with two new flights to China starting next month.
Jeff Edge, senior vice president for economic development at the Charlotte Chamber, said West Coast firms are often reluctant to move to the other side of the country because long-distance moves “can create a sense of apprehension for personnel,” he said.
To win the project, Texas offered Toyota $40 million in incentives, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Decker, the commerce secretary, said she couldn’t recall the specifics of North Carolina’s incentives package. The Observer has filed a public records request with her department seeking the details.
She and local officials were left in the odd position of explaining how they lost a company they never officially knew they were fighting for.
Toyota officials used corporate real estate consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle as an intermediary on the site selection project.
Local officials say the consultants initiated inquiries about a Charlotte relocation, but never identified Toyota as the subject of Project One.
Swenson said about a half-dozen people from Toyota and the consulting firm met with the Charlotte Regional Partnership and the Chamber at the partnership’s offices in the NASCAR Plaza building on South Caldwell Street.
He couldn’t recall the date, other than that it was a couple of months ago.
Swenson said it isn’t uncommon for companies to visit cities incognito.
“There’s a lot at stake in terms of the corporate decision and the impact,” he said. “You have families you’re dealing with in the employee base. If they’re a public company and the decision gets out in the media, how does that impact corporate operations?”
But Edge said companies on major relocation projects almost always identify themselves to finalist cities to make sure locals want their company and are making their best offer.
“I find that very strange,” he said of Toyota’s secrecy with Charlotte. “The only reason I can see for not (disclosing) their identity to their ‘finalist’ communities is that they had already made a decision and were negotiating with the winner but did not want to risk word leaking out” from other finalists.
Decker said she doesn’t yet know all the details of why Toyota passed on Charlotte, but plans to get a debriefing on it.
“It’s never just one thing,” she said. “These decisions are very complex.”
Last edited by bitkahuna; 05-08-14 at 05:40 PM.
#162
Driver School Candidate
Sad for KY and CA, but makes perfect sense.
As a individual who has built a life in Kentucky and a great career building our business to support Toyota manufacturing plants in North America, this caught most everyone by surprise. As others have said, can you blame Toyota? Perry has done a great job courting major businesses to Texas, tax incentives are only a small incentive for a company like Toyota. The business friendly states, that have good leadership will prevail. California is terrible for businesses, and Kentucky, under current liberal leadership is not much better.
Our business supports the manufacturing and engineering at Toyota, and hundreds of the parts suppliers for automotive, and fortunately, we won't be negatively effected, but I know many who worked for Toyota in Erlanger, KY who are struggling with this.
Our business supports the manufacturing and engineering at Toyota, and hundreds of the parts suppliers for automotive, and fortunately, we won't be negatively effected, but I know many who worked for Toyota in Erlanger, KY who are struggling with this.
#163
Driver School Candidate
#165
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (10)
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Thank you! As a wise man (or woman) once said, "If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."-- I've been spending a lot of time lately changing the way I am thinking about it.
As you mention, if I don't like it after spending two years there, I can always come back. It won't be easy, but it won't be extremely difficult either, and I will only be 33 or 34 years old by that time.
Thank you Cost of living is definitely less out there, and the idea of paying off my student loans once and for all is huge. Definitely leaning more on the "yes I will relocate and stay with Toyota" side.
This is true, I don't see Hyundai moving anytime in the near future, but I can't see them staying in CA forever either =/ The Auto industry seems to be moving away from CA and ... my passion lies within the auto industry ...
For me, it all comes down to choosing a location I love or a job I love. (though, after Toyota sends us on a trip to go check out TX, who knows-- maybe I will also enjoy that location). I've had it good for the past 7 years with Toyota, having both a job in an industry I have passion for, and being able to live in a location that I grew up in and love.
Change isn't always bad though. And again, I cannot stress enough how well Toyota is handling it. So far, the majority I've interacted with ARE considering the move. Prior to finding out more information on Monday, the majority were firmly saying they would not even consider relocating. That speaks volumes about the company, I feel.
As you mention, if I don't like it after spending two years there, I can always come back. It won't be easy, but it won't be extremely difficult either, and I will only be 33 or 34 years old by that time.
Thank you Cost of living is definitely less out there, and the idea of paying off my student loans once and for all is huge. Definitely leaning more on the "yes I will relocate and stay with Toyota" side.
This is true, I don't see Hyundai moving anytime in the near future, but I can't see them staying in CA forever either =/ The Auto industry seems to be moving away from CA and ... my passion lies within the auto industry ...
For me, it all comes down to choosing a location I love or a job I love. (though, after Toyota sends us on a trip to go check out TX, who knows-- maybe I will also enjoy that location). I've had it good for the past 7 years with Toyota, having both a job in an industry I have passion for, and being able to live in a location that I grew up in and love.
Change isn't always bad though. And again, I cannot stress enough how well Toyota is handling it. So far, the majority I've interacted with ARE considering the move. Prior to finding out more information on Monday, the majority were firmly saying they would not even consider relocating. That speaks volumes about the company, I feel.
Good way to put a positive spin on this IntegresS
Truth is change is inevitable... I've been with my company for 15 years since I graduated college.. (not in the auto industry)
Worked for my company on both Coasts of the US..
If you the ability to stay with the company and expand within.. I say go for it..
At least your business trips between LA & TX will be legit..
~ Joe Z