BUFFALO, W.Va. – Toyota’s engine and transmission plant in West Virginia celebrated its 20th anniversary with the announcement of another $400 million investment.
The investment won’t mean new construction or an additional line of products – but instead upgrades and modernization meant to keep the plant competitive into the future, said Millie Marshall, president of Toyota West Virginia.
“It’s really simple,” Marshall said. “Our $400 million investment is we are re-tooling our entire operation here both on the engine and transmission side to the new 8-speed transmission and the new engine technology.”
So over the next four years, Toyota West Virginia will evolve from producing its current 6-speed transmission lines to 8-speed transmission lines.
“It guarantees we have work for the future,” Marshall said. “We’re the first plant in North America to get this new technology. The key thing is it’s guaranteeing our future.”
LIVE on #Periscope: Millie Marshall, President of @Toyota in #PutnamWV https://t.co/GgwcJkRttN
— Brad McElhinny (@BradMcElhinny) September 21, 2016
The announcement and the celebration came under clear blue skies in pastoral Buffalo, where Toyota’s groundbreaking was celebrated 20 years ago.
Among the guests at both events were Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Dr. Shoirchiro Toyoda, honorary chairman of Toyota Motor Corp., longtime friends who worked together to site the plant in West Virginia and develop it.
“The whole concept of Japanese plants in West Virginia, particularly Toyota, was really strong in my mind and my heart,” Rockefeller recalled Wednesday in remarks before a crowd of community members and plant employees.
“I’m not sure in the beginning they thought that West Virginia was the right place to go but we persisted for about 10-12 years – and lots of trips to Japan, and they finally made the decision.
The original investment in Buffalo was $400 million. Excitement was so high, 19,000 people applied for the original 300 jobs.
Toyota workers in #PutnamWV watch a video presentation celebrating 20 years of the plant pic.twitter.com/voE021UFKc
— Brad McElhinny (@BradMcElhinny) September 21, 2016
“I only know three words in Japanese,” Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin told the crowd. “Toyota, Toyota, Toyota.”
He praised the company for its dedication to the region, including volunteer efforts in the community.
“Toyota is nothing short of what it means to be a good corporate citizen,” Tomblin said.
Now 1,600 employees work for Toyota West Virginia. Since its inception, Toyota West Virginia has had eight expansions to its engine and transmission lines.
The only Toyota plant in North America that makes both engines and transmissions, the plant in Buffalo produces more than 650,000 engines and 740,000 transmissions each year.
The facility now valued at $1.4 billion makes four- and six-cylinder engines for Toyota Corolla, Sienna, Highlander and Lexus RX 350 models built in North America.
A new transmission rolls off the assembly line about every 25 seconds, with four-cylinder engines rolling off every 30 seconds.
“We have been an engine for making great things possible,” said Tim Hollander, general manager for Toyota West Virginia.
One of the employees who spoke during the ceremony, Jamie Barton, said he saw the original groundbreaking from outside the company property and was inspired to apply for a job.
“Working here is fun and challenging,” Barton told the crowd.