South Carolina works hard but loses van plant to Georgia

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Posted 10:09AM on Monday, October 28, 2002

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Jim Morris, chief of staff for the state Commerce Department, expected a celebration when he reached the South Carolina governor's office on Oct. 17. He soon learned it was not to be. DaimlerChrysler had chosen Georgia for its Sprinter van plant project that could mean $700 million and more than 3,000 jobs. "I was really going over there expecting victory," Morris told The (Columbia, S.C.) State. "I was shocked." Morris, South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges and others said they did all they could to convince the automaker that Summerville was the right site. State officials think Georgia's economic incentives gave DaimlerChrysler more cash with fewer strings attached than South Carolina's package of $346 million. Georgia leaders say it was their purchase of the site without a firm commitment that won the day. Georgia's incentives were worth $320 million. South Carolina officials had no idea when first contacted in 2000 that the information they were asked concerned a potential van plant. When DaimlerChrysler got serious earlier this year, it focused on three port cities - Charleston, Savannah and Jacksonville, Fla. Hodges focused on Rolf Bartke, head of DaimlerChrysler's van unit in Stuttgart, Germany. Bartke visited the governor's mansion for the first time earlier this year. At about the same time, BMW told South Carolina leaders it might expand its Upstate factory if it had help with site improvements. South Carolina lawmakers passed a bill that would let the state raise cash to entice such large businesses. That money could buy land, prepare the site, build training facilities and teach workers. Companies had to invest at least $400 million and the project must lead to at least 400 jobs within eight years. Hodges said officials discussed the legislation with DaimlerChrysler and BMW. The governor and Commerce officials got top Republican leaders on board and the bill was passed in five weeks. Hodges signed it May 15. By summer, it was clear to state officials that the race was down to Charleston and Savannah. South Carolina took an option to buy 1,500 acres near Summerville. Georgia chose to buy its 1,580-acre site in Pooler for $24 million. DaimlerChrysler officials said they would not make a decision this year, although South Carolina leaders thought a choice would come in the fall. Over the Labor Day weekend, Bartke's team was at the governor's mansion for additional meetings. Hodges told Bartke the state "would be very aggressive" in getting the plant. About 10 to 15 people from both sides met that Saturday to discuss South Carolina's proposal. DaimlerChrysler officials then went to Atlanta the next day for meetings with Gov. Roy Barnes and officials there. Barnes had executives with United Parcel Service, based in Atlanta and a big customer for Sprinter vans in Europe, talk with DaimlerChrysler. Barnes said the Confederate flag was discussed with company officials. NAACP chairman Julian Bond, a former Georgia state legislator, asked the automaker to stay out of South Carolina because it flies the Confederate flag on Statehouse grounds. DaimlerChrysler said that did not play a role in its decision against the Palmetto State. There was another site visit by DaimlerChrysler, without Bartke, the following weekend in Summerville. On Oct. 4, an attorney for South Carolina finished a memorandum of understanding on how incentives would work for a proposed Summerville plant. A DaimlerChrysler lawyer in New York flew to Germany Oct. 7 to present it to the company's management board. But a scheduled meeting was canceled. Two weeks later, Bartke called Barnes to say Georgia would get the van plant if it were built. The company says it will decide that by July. Barnes announced the news on Oct. 18. Although no one from DaimlerChrsyler attended, Barnes said he was 100 percent certain the plant would come. South Carolina leaders compared Georgia's win to an engagement without a wedding date. "It was a very unusual courtship in that they weren't able to commit," Hodges said. "Do you go out and buy 25 (million) or 30 million dollars in property for a project that might never happen?" Morris said although South Carolina wanted the factory, all state leaders feel they protected taxpayers. "I can go to bed every night, and look at myself in the mirror every morning and have no regrets about what we did or didn't do," Morris said. "We just think they were willing to make some decisions we weren't willing to make."