Toyota plant helping put Woodstock on the map

The arrival of Toyota Motor Co. in Woodstock, Ont. has put the southwestern Ontario city of 34,000 on the map. However, city officials say recent economic success wasn’t born overnight. And they caution, that while Toyota’s soon-to-be-built $800-million plant is huge, don’t underestimate the little guys.

WOODSTOCK

“I feel like a Hollywood actor who has spent 20 years in show business, and then was suddenly discovered,” said Woodstock mayor Michael Harding.

Woodstock development commissioner Len Magyar also combats the overnight success theory with his own.

“Toyota is big, but we can’t lose sight of the fact a lot of our growth comes from our smaller homegrown companies,” Magyar said.

The combination of Toyota’s announcement and news of numerous other developments within Woodstock’s three industrial parks and surrounding lands makes this small city a sleeping giant no more.

On Feb. 7, Toyota announced it is adding 700 jobs to the 1,300 it plans to hire for its new Woodstock manufacturing facility. A 1,000-acre site east of the city will house a state-of-the-art flexible assembly plant, slated for full operation in 2008.

“We have grabbed the tiger by the tail and are ready for this success,” said Harding, calling the Toyota grab “the largest industrial investment in North America in 2005.”

Business Facilities Magazine named Woodstock the gold medal winner in the largest category ($500 million-plus US) at the publication’s 13th annual Economic Development Awards.

Together, Toyota’s Cambridge and Woodstock plants will employ 6,300 and assemble 450,000 vehicles a year. Concrete footings for the new facility are scheduled to be poured this month, with steel erection slated for June.

Toyota is just the tip of the iceberg of Woodstock’s growth, according to Harding and Magyar. And they say more announcements are pending for 2006 and beyond during this boom time for Oxford County.

Announcements of growth in 2005 came fast and furious. Haas Enterprises is adding a 14,000-sq.-ft. addition to its existing metal fabrication facility. Canada Stampings has purchased 7.5 acres for construction of a 72,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant. Norwich Metal Products purchased 3.02 acres of industrial land for its new 15,600-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant. And Till-Fab has purchased an existing building and additional land to expand operations for its manufacturing of retractable tarp systems for flatbed transport trailers.

Also, First Gulf Industrial Properties has acquired 67 acres in Woodstock’s newest industrial park, CommerceWay Business Park. The city spent about $9 million servicing CommerceWay, ideally located at the intersection of Highways 401 and 403.

First Gulf COO and managing director David Gerofsky called the Woodstock site attractive because there were no development charges, and no fees for storm water management.

He added, First Gulf believes, “Woodstock is among the best locations in the 401 corridor for our company to develop.”

“We have not underfunded our infrastructure,” he said. “And I have personally been committed to retooling the tax structure so we can be competitive regionally.”

Magyar said about 40 acres remain available in the 270-acre CommerceWay park, with 15 acres available in Bysham Park, and another 20 acres in Pattullo Ridge.

“The private sector also controls a fair amount of land in the eastern part of the community, not too far from Toyota,” Magyar said. “We’re expecting they’ll move towards servicing soon.”

The only recent blip on the Woodstock radar was the January announcement from John Deere Forestry that it is closing its Woodstock plant.

But good news continues for Woodstock. Dofasco has purchased 67 acres of land near the new Toyota plant site. And Transdrive commercial driveway service will build a 20,000-sq.-ft. facility in Pattullo Ridge.