One of the photos Gov. Eric Holcomb tweeted during his Japan visit earlier this month was a shot of him playing basketball with a representative from Toyota.
Turns out, it may not have been just a coincidence.
St. Joseph County officials have confirmed with the South Bend Tribune that a rural site in the New Carlisle could be home to a $1.6 billion auto plant in the future. Toyota is searching for a state to place its new plant.
After making a basket in all 92 Indiana counties, now I’m working on a basket in all of Japan’s 47 prefectures! #INJapan pic.twitter.com/wZdQFZ8Nd3
— Eric Holcomb (@GovHolcomb) September 14, 2017
The director of the St. Joseph Economic Development Corp., Bill Schalliol, says he thinks the New Carlisle plot may be the only site Toyota is considering in Indiana.
Another spokeswoman for the IEDC says that site is being considered “for a couple different projects” but not just the Toyota/Mazda plant. She also stated that the plant was only briefly mentioned during Holcomb’s visit.
The auto maker hopes to produce up to 300,000 cars in the new plant starting in 2021…wherever it decides to build it. Toyota also has a plant in southern Indiana near Evansville.
