Iowa no longer in the running for new Toyota, Mazda plant

Iowa and Cedar Rapids are no longer under consideration for a $1.6 billion car manufacturing plant by Toyota and Mazda.

'Unfortunately we have been eliminated as contender for this project,” Iowa Economic Development Authority spokeswoman Kanan Kappelman told The Gazette Tuesday.

She said the companies did not provide specifics about why they dismissed Iowa's bid, but the state 'did not meet the parameters of the project.”

Iowa's proposal for the plant had included Big Cedar Industrial Center in Cedar Rapids, Kappelman said. Marketed by Alliant Energy, the industrial park is a 1,300-acre site northwest of the Eastern Iowa Airport and would have been one of the few sites in Iowa big enough for the plant.

'After reviewing the company's criteria, the top location contender would have been the Big Cedar Industrial Center,” Kappelman said.

Jennifer Daly, president and chief executive officer of Iowa's Creative Corridor Development Corp., declined to comment on the project or Cedar Rapids' involvement Monday.

The plant is expected to employ 4,000 people and build 300,000 vehicles a year. Toyota and Mazda have said they would construct the plant by 2021.

The facility would need upward of 1,000 acres.

'Of course we're disappointed but we definitely feel privileged to have been a part of this process. Our proposal was met with praise and we were recognized for having delivered a very robust proposal,” Kappelman said.

Mike Wagner, a spokesman for Alliant Energy, said the company 'learned a lot during this process.”

'It's really exciting for us because being on the shortlist has helped raise the profile of our site. There's a lot of people that may not have known about us that are suddenly aware of us,” Wagner said.

The Wall Street Journal reported in August Iowa was one of 11 state in the mix for the plant. Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Texas, also were under consideration at the time.

News reports surfaced late last week that at least three states - Illinois, Nebraska and Indiana - were out of the running for the plant. Crain's Chicago Business reported only three states were left under consideration, all of which are expected to be 'right-to-work” states in the southeast.

A spokesman for Toyota declined to comment Tuesday on which states were left under consideration.

'We anticipate selecting a site in early 2018. We remain focused on finding the best possible site that meets our joint criteria for the future plant and do not wish to fuel any speculation,” Toyota spokesman Aaron Fowles said in an email. 'Until then, we are not in a position to discuss who is or isn't in the running for the site.”

Toyota and Mazda have sought a $1 billion incentive package from the states competing for the manufacturing plant, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.