Commercial truck and bus manufacturer Navistar, based in Lisle, Illinois, announced its plans to build a $250 million San Antonio plant and hire 600 workers.
Toyota and a Toyota supplier announced plans earlier this week to spend $800 million on local expansion and hire 900. Mayor Ron Nirenberg is calling it the “billion dollar week” for the city.
“Literally, a billion dollar week and that means a significant investment in new corporate partners into San Antonio. Aisin, plus Toyota, plus now Navistar,” he said.
Aichi, Japan-based Toyota is spending $391 million to expand operations at its South Side plant, where Tundras and Tacomas come rolling out.
Toyota supplier Aisin AW, based in Anjo City, Japan, plans to build transmissions at a new Cibolo-based facility and hire 900 workers. Production is expected to begin in September 2021, according to a company news release.
Construction on the South Side Navistar facility near Mitchell Lake is expected to take a couple of years.
District 3 Councilwoman Rebecca Viagran compares its economic impact to the opening of the Toyota plant in 2006.
“It’s going to create an opportunity for building wealth for our community that may not had that opportunity and create that economic mobility opportunities too,” she said.
Vigran added more vehicle manufacturing supply companies may be lured to San Antonio by this week’s developments.
The South Side suffered economically after the closure of Kelly Air Force Base in 2001, but Viagran said the opening of the Toyota plant helped the area rebound.
She says the Navistar plant will also add new homes, shopping centers and hopefully a new grocery store to the district.
The San Antonio Economic Development Foundation reports overall manufacturing has a $40 billion economic impact on the San Antonio area. The economic impact of the Navistar facility is $5.6 billion over 10 years.
"Thousands of people in our country make their living in manufacturing,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. “These are the kind of jobs that not only provide a good living, but can change a family's circumstances."
Brian Kirkpatrick can be reached at Brian@TPR.org and on Twitter at @TPRBrian.
