JACKSON, Miss. -- The ripple effects continue to multiply from the US$950 million investment that Nissan (www.nissandriven.com) dropped into Mississippi's economy late last year.
        Nissan North America has announced a second wave of production suppliers to serve the 3,500-employee plant that it's building in Canton, Miss. Together, the new operations represent an investment of more than $110 million and will create approximately 1,000 new jobs, Nissan officials reported.

        Nissan's second supplier wave will create six new facilities - four production plants, a supplier logistics center and a transportation service center. The Canton plant's modular operations dictated that all the new supplier facilities locate near the Madison County site, explained Emil Hassan, Nissan senior vice president of North American manufacturing, purchasing, quality and logistics.
        "Consistent with the strategy we announced this summer, these suppliers will complement our plans to have suppliers assemble and deliver modules and components in the same sequence as the vehicles produced on our production lines," Hassan said.
        The 2 million-sq.-ft. (180,000-sq.-m.) Nissan plant was announced in November of 2000, following a slam-bang site selection that spanned a mere five months. Mississippi provided a $293 million incentive package to land the facility, which will make pickup trucks, sport-utility vehicles and minivans. The Nissan plant is scheduled to begin production in the summer of 2003.

Supplier Tally Thus Far: Investment
Of $200 Million Plus, 2,000 New Jobs

The second wave of suppliers unveiled for Nissan's Mississippi operation comes after July's announcement of the first suppliers tapped. Together, the first two waves of production suppliers have announced more than $200 million in investment in new plants, which will create more 2,000-plus new jobs, according to Nissan officials.
        Nissan's move to Mississippi irrevocably altered the state's economy, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove

“The partnership between the state of Mississippi and Nissan forever changed the economic outlook for our state and heightened Mississippi's position as a world leader in economic development,” Gov. Ronnie Musgrove asserted.

asserted at the Jackson press conference where the second-wave suppliers were introduced. "The partnership between the state of Mississippi and Nissan forever changed the economic outlook for our state and heightened Mississippi's position as a world leader in economic development," Musgrove said.
        "We're now seeing the ripple effect created by Nissan's massive operation in Canton," Musgrove continued. "The investments being made by these new plants and service companies continue to demonstrate that Mississippi is a great place to do business. . . . Ladies and gentlemen, in a time when the economy is in a downturn, and in a time when we see companies downsizing across America, today is a great day for the state of Mississippi."

And the Suppliers Are . . .

The second supplier wave for the Canton plant includes:

• M-TEK Inc., which will build a new plant in the Central Mississippi Industrial Center to supply Nissan with interior trim components such as door trim, roof trim, body side trim, garnish moldings and dash insulators. The 219,000-sq.-ft. (19,710-sq.-m.) operation in Madison County will be known as M-TEK Mississippi Inc.
• TKA Fabco, which has been awarded what Nissan officials called "a significant amount of body stampings and assemblies" for the Canton plant. TKA Fabco is still determining the location of its new facility, Nissan officials said.
• Unipres U.S.A. Inc., which will also supply body stampings for the Nissan vehicles built in Canton. Unipres will build a 150,000-sq.-ft. (13,500-sq.-m.) plant in Forest, Miss.
• Yorozu America Inc., which will build a facility in the Ceres Industrial Park in Vicksburg. A new company division, Yorozu Automotive Mississippi Inc., will supply Nissan with various suspension components from the 80,000-sq.-ft. (7,200-sq.-m.) plant.

JVs Will Head Supplier Logistics,
Transportation Service Centers

Two newly formed joint ventures will manage the supplier logistics center and the transportation service center that will serve the Nissan plant.
        IMS Autrans, a joint venture between Integrated Management Services (IMS) and Autrans Corp., will manage the supplier logistics center. IMS Autrans will build a 200,000-sq.-ft. (18,000-sq.-m.) facility on the site of the Canton plant.
        The $15 million facility will employ up to 250 employees, with construction beginning in the first quarter of 2002, IMS and Autrans officials said.
        The joint-venture facility will provide final assembly services for several suppliers that have manufacturing facilities located outside the state of Mississippi, Nissan officials explained. The supplier logistics center will also provide logistics services, including cross-docking, part-kitting and sequencing, for parts delivered to the Canton plant, they added.
        IMS, a minority-owned company based in Jackson, Miss., will be the majority owner of IMS Autrans.
        The second newly created joint venture is AJA SouthStar Transport, which combines the efforts of AJA Management & Technical Services Inc. and Star Transportation Inc.
        AJA SouthStar Transport will deliver parts to the Canton plant from Nissan's plants in Smyrna and Decherd, Tenn. The joint-venture operation will also provide transportation services for component parts suppliers and other shippers to Nissan's Canton plant. AJA SouthStar Transport will build 6,000 sq. ft. (540 sq. m.) of new office and service space, as well as a 10-acre (four-hectare) paved and fenced drop lot in the Central Mississippi Industrial Center.
        The AJA SouthStar joint venture also includes another minority-owned, Jackson-based firm, AJA Management & Technical Services. Said Hassan of the newly named minority-owned suppliers, "Again, our supplier development is demonstrating Nissan's commitment to diversity, creating win-win partnerships that will benefit the region and the region's economy."