Designation opens doors for potential automotive assembly plant opportunities
RICHMOND – Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced that a 1,500-acre site in Greensville County has been certified as suitable for automotive assembly operations and other major advanced manufacturing facilities. The Greensville County site received certification from McCallum Sweeney Consulting, a consulting firm that performs site selection and develops and implements certified site programs for corporate clients worldwide.
“Site identification and development is the first step toward establishing Virginia as a contender for future major manufacturing projects,” said Governor Kaine. “This certification by a well-respected consulting firm will open many doors for the Commonwealth to compete for banner economic development projects on a whole new level.”
CSX, one of the nation’s leading rail and transportation companies, hired McCallum Sweeney to identify suitable sites for major manufacturing in several states that CSX services.
“CSX is pleased to partner with Greensville County and the Commonwealth of Virginia in announcing this new site and looks forward to working with state and local officials in locating and serving a facility there that will benefit Virginia and the local economy,” said J. Randolph Cheetham, CSX’s Regional Vice President-State Relations.
The Greensville County location, located on Interstate 95 near the Virginia-North Carolina border, is the first industrial site in Virginia to receive the megasite certification.
It is one of eight sites throughout the Southern United States that have met the program’s high standards. Criteria considered during the certification process include size, access to CSX rail service, adjacency to an interstate, utility infrastructure and satisfactory environmental assessment.
“Companies face intense pressure to bring product to the market,” said Ed McCallum, Senior Principal, McCallum Sweeney Consulting, Inc. “Competition demands this. The first step in this process is to find a site that adds to, and does not detract from, project timing and execution. It is not enough to have good transportation access, an adequate labor force, or an excellent business climate; instead, you have to have all these things plus a site that can be developed in a timely manner.”
“Greensville County is pleased to have this site, located in Southside Virginia, certified by McCallum Sweeney,” said Peggy Wiley, Chair of the Greensville County Board of Supervisors. “This milestone could only have been achieved by the cooperation demonstrated by our partners at the local and state level, as well as the landowners whose property collectively makes up the certified site. Our community has a long history of meeting the needs of industry and we look forward to the challenges of attracting a major manufacturing facility to Virginia.”