Automaker to go rural for its new U.S. assembly plant

Two towns in Ohio and one in Indiana are the frontrunners for the bid.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Three towns that some analysts say appear to be the front-runners for a new Honda Motor Co. assembly plant in the United States are rural and largely agrarian, similar to sites that have paid off for the company before, experts said.
All three sites -- two in Ohio, one in Indiana -- are within a short drive of urban areas.
"That isn't surprising," said David Cole of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. "They've been very successful with areas of that size. It's based on past experience."
Honda announced plans last month to build the plant as part of a $1.18 billion global expansion. The facility will boost the Japanese automaker's North American production capacity from 1.4 million to 1.6 million vehicles a year and employ about 1,500.
The plant is to be built by 2008. Honda has said the plant will be built in the Midwest, but hasn't reached a decision on a location and won't identify potential sites.
Ohio Gov. Bob Taft has said Honda is looking at two sites in his state: near Octa, about 40 miles southwest of Columbus, and near Van Wert, about 75 miles southwest of Toledo.
Indiana officials are pushing sites near Greensburg in the southeastern part of the state, between Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
Officials in Illinois and Michigan are also making proposals to the company.
Honda's apparent interest in rural areas mirrors a move the company made 30 years ago, when it chose a site near Marysville, northwest of Columbus, for its first North American manufacturing plant. That plant is now the center of an operation that employs 16,000 Ohioans.
"They really don't deviate from their strategy that much," said Erich Merkle, an analyst with the automotive research firm IRN Inc., in Grand Rapids, Mich. "They've been tremendously successful. The only thing that's kind of held them back is a shortage in capacity," for making cars in North America.
Van Wert
In Van Wert, residents are excited about the prospect of landing the plant. Signs in downtown storefronts proclaim, "This business welcomes Honda."
Nancy Bowen, Van Wert's economic development director, said she got a call in early May from the Ohio Department of Development about an unnamed company looking for a large swath of farmland. It turned out to be Honda.
As soon as she hung up the phone, Bowen and several real estate agents set about locking up nearly 1,900 acres of farmland from property owners, some of whom had farmed the land for decades.
"There was very little sleep for anyone involved that week," Bowen said.
Options on the property were secured by May 12.
Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson later told Van Wert officials that he was amazed by the quick work -- and Mayor Don Farmer hopes the turnaround will impress Honda.
"In everything that I read, they're looking for community cooperation," Farmer said.
Octa
There's also a buzz in Octa's Fayette County, where Honda has secured about 2,000 acres.
"We're a crossroads, hometown feel, the Mayberry factor, the heartland -- a lot of clich & eacute;s," said Rob Hedrick, the county's economic development director. "But we're a manufacturer's and a distributor's dream come true."
Greensburg
In Greensburg, Ind., about 300 people recently dressed in red, forming an "H" for an aerial photo.
Since Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said Honda had its eye on Greensburg, the town has felt uneasy about being in the spotlight.
But the increased attention would be worth it if it brings Honda to Greensburg, residents say. They might lose some small-town feel, but the plant's economic benefits would make it a more than a fair trade.
"It'd go from a farming town to a factory town, so you'd have a little more crime, and it could be harder (for existing businesses) to find employees," said Don Storie, co-owner of Storie's Restaurant in downtown Greensburg.
"But we couldn't help but grow in population, and business owners, it couldn't