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Toyota: Cultural shift would follow economic boom Wednesday, Feb 7, 2007 By David Sanders When a sitting U.S. congressman from Tennessee is actively lobbying a company to locate one of the South's most coveted job-creating superprojects in Arkansas over his home state, it raises eyebrows. While Rep. Steve Cohen's effort is provocative to some in the Volunteer State, the question of why he is lobbying Toyota to locate its automotive assembly plant in Marion, Ark., over Chattanooga, Tenn., begs examination. On the surface, proximity is obvious. It is easy to understand why he would want the plant to be 10 miles from his downtown Memphis office. Many of his constituents would cross the Mississippi River to find new work. What people in Little Rock and other parts of Arkansas may not get is the transformational power Toyota would have on the eastern Arkansas economy, and by extension Western Tennessee. I suspect Cohen understands because Tennessee, unlike Arkansas, has seen the local economic impact of an automotive plant. As for the project in question, the raw numbers are impressive. Industry reports suggest if Toyota were to land in Marion, the result could be an injection of 10,000 jobs with average salaries that range from $40,000 a year and to $65,000 a year. Homes would be built, hospitals and schools would expand and an entirely consumer-based economy would emerge. A profound cultural shift also would follow. It is hard to imagine, that a few decades ago Toyota and other Japanese automakers were not market leaders. In fact, Japanese cars were considered of low quality and inferior and would be the last vehicle one would expect to see parked in the driveway of any red-blooded American. The company's leaders, driven by a competitive spirit to build better cars, turned Toyota around, and today it manufactures some of the most sought-after vehicles. When faced with the daunting task of competing head-to-head against American automakers for American car buyers the company developed new strategies and tactics. When a company consumed by an innovative can-do culture is injected into a community, or a region that has been told for the past 50 years that its days of economic affluence are over, the prevailing can't-do attitude should begin to disappear. That is the virtue of prosperity. That type of new thinking could be transformational. Quality and process improvement would not only be an expectation on the assembly line but also would become an attitude that could take hold in other areas of the community, permeating in academic programs and local governments. Workers in a quality-driven environment will insist on change in their communities. An economic and cultural transformation of a small Arkansas town would be important to all corners of the state because it would become infectious. If the Delta's ruins could be transformed into a fertile ground for innovation and manufacturing jobs of the current century, the shift will inspire confidence in others who are not content to look at past greatness, but who strive to keep their eyes on shaping a better future. Eastern Arkansas is ready for Toyota. ------- David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com. |
