By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – Governor Riley says he tried to help Mississippi land a Toyota assembly plant because it will provide jobs in Alabama.
Toyota announced today it will build an assembly plant in northeast Mississippi near Tupelo. The plant is expected to employ two thousand people.
Riley says he had been in contact with Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour when the state was competing for the plant and he had provided assistance.
Riley says he and Barbour have tried to take a regional approach to economic development. And Barbour has supported Alabama's efforts to attract the ThyssenKrupp steel plant to the Mobile area.
That plant would be close enough to the state line to provide jobs in both states.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)