Watching the progress of new construction at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in Lincoln is like telling the future fortunes of the entire region.All that needs to be done is to take a look back at what has happened thus far since the Japanese automaker announced plans to build a manufacturing facility in Talladega County in 1999.
Since breaking ground in 2000 for the initial facility, each time plant officials have repeated the ceremonial turn of the shovel, it became the catalyst for an economic ripple effect felt not just in Lincoln, but throughout the area.
Fast forward to this week, and Honda has just completed a $34 million expansion, a part of its $100 million worth of construction projects announced in the past year. And construction continues on a 27,000 square foot steel blanking facility expected to open in 2009.
Employment now tops the 4,500-mark, and the company’s investments in the state total more than $1.3 billion thus far.
It began with the creation of 2,000 jobs that became 4,000 jobs that now provides more than 4,500 people with a job at Honda. And that’s only the direct impact in employment.
Indirectly, its impact can be felt in the spin-off industries, the service businesses, construction, materials, trucking and other jobs and business creations because of Honda’s presence.
So when passersby see the dirt being moved, the steel beams going up and another Honda construction project in full swing, it’s like seeing the future. And the view certainly looks promising.
