Century Car Plant Not A Done Deal; Plant And Jobs Could Go To North Alabama Or Even Flomaton

October 17, 2008

An electric car manufacturing company locating in Century is not a done deal. A former tenant in the Century Industrial Park could be problem that could cost the town up to 1,100 jobs, if the car company does not choose locations being considered in Alabama. If Century does not land the plant, it could end up as close by as Flomaton.

The electric car compay, currently called Project Green Leaf, is considering Century and locations in Alabama for their main plant. A resolution approved Thursday night by the Escambia County Commission says that manufacturing location being considered in Century is 6081 Industrial Boulevard…the building that was occupied until a few months ago by Helicopter Technologies.

The Town of Century filed foreclosure against Helicopter Technologies and its owner, Georges Van Nevel, in late August to regain the building that they financed. In the meantime, Van Nevel left the country, according to Century Mayor Freddie McCall. McCall and the town’s attorney thought that they had reached an agreement for Van Nevel to sign the building back over to the town with going to court, but that had not happened as of late Thursday. Van Nevel is believed to be in the Philippines.

McCall said he had contact with Van Nevel this week, and he still had not moved forward with turning the property back over to the Town of Century. So it remains in foreclosure, a process that can sometimes take months to complete in the court system. McCall said there was no way to know if the town would regain ownership fast enough for Project Green Leaf.

Escambia County Administrator Bob McLaughlin said that Jay Patel, the Pensacola hotel owner behind Project Green Leaf, is considering a location in Fort Payne, Alabama, to manufacture plug-in stations for electric vehicles, including those that might be produced in Century.

NorthEscambia.com confirmed that Patel and his associates have looked at locations in Fort Payne. Officials in Dekalb County, Alabama, confirmed on the condition of anonymity that Patel and his company have toured several locations in and around Fort Payne for their plug-in station company, or perhaps even the entire electric car manufacturing facility.

Meanwhile, NorthEscambia.com has learned that Patel and his associates met earlier this week in Flomaton with Escambia County (AL) representatives to discuss the possibility of locating some or all of the facility in the Flomaton area.

NorthEscambia.com has made numerous calls to Patel’s office at a Pensacola hotel, but those calls have not been returned by Patel. One call was returned by Art Rocker, who indentified himself as vice-president of the company. He said that company officials were not commenting on the project at this time.

“We sure hope they end up here in Century,” McCall said. “We offer many incentives they just are not going to find anywhere else.”

Locations in the town of Century, in addition to local financial support, offer money saving status as an Enterprise Zone, Brownfield Zone and Florida Enterprise Zone. Each of those “zones” provide a different set of financial incentives and tax credits for industry.


Click here to read “Exclusive: A Look A Project Green Leaf’s Electric Car That Might Be Made In Century”.

Click here to read “County Supports Electric Car Plant In Century; Up To 1,100 Jobs Possible”.

NorthEscambia.com was the first to break the story about the electric car plant a week ago, and we will have continuing coverage.

Comments

2 Responses to “Century Car Plant Not A Done Deal; Plant And Jobs Could Go To North Alabama Or Even Flomaton”

  1. Beegee on October 17th, 2008 3:14 pm

    Don’t hold your breath!!!!!

  2. Jay on October 17th, 2008 12:16 pm

    Lets hope that the local and state governments can come together and offer a package of incentives that will make this happen.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News