Sat, May 19, 2007

By MARY STARR

The Brunswick News

Mercedes-Benz USA announced Friday that it is moving its vehicle preparation center from Jacksonville to a new facility that it will build in Brunswick.

The new dockside facility will be built on 50 acres of land to be acquired by Mercedes-Benz USA and will process 50,000 vehicles annually. The vehicle processing facility will also be capable of accessory installation, full body shop operations and vehicle detailing and distribution operations.

Mercedes-Benz said 41 people will be employed at the facility. Employees with the company in Jacksonville will be given the opportunity to transfer to Brunswick.

Former U.S. Sen. Mack Mattingly, R-Ga., chair of the board of the Georgia Ports Authority, attributes Mercedes' decision to the recent deepening of the Brunswick harbor.

The harbor has been deepened to 36 feet from 30 feet.

"We have worked on this for several years," Mattingly said. "I am delighted to see this come to fruition.

"This is the first of many benefits to result from this deepening."

Mattingly said the details will be ironed out when he and other members of the board of the ports authority meet Monday in Brunswick.

Harbor deepening wasn't the only drawing card. The construction of the 7,500-foot Colonel's Island Connector Track – which connects the Norfolk Southern and CSX tracks that once carried cargo independently to the Georgia Ports Authority facility on Colonel's Island – is also a factor in Mercedes' decision, said Phil Overton, executive director of the Southeast Georgia Joint Development Authority.

The joint authority oversaw construction of the track.

"This is just fantastic," Overton said. "Mercedes' initial intent was for all of its export and import operations to be in one place."

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue said a number of factors have converged to give Glynn County an edge in attracting port business.

"We have made wise investments in replacing the Sidney Lanier Bridge, deepening the Brunswick Harbor, completing the overpass on (U.S.) 17 and constructing the north-south connector road on Colonel's Island," Perdue said in a prepared statement.

"Mercedes-Benz USA is the first of what I hope will be many of our state's customers to benefit from our increased accessibility for automobile manufacturers."

Construction on the 50,000-square-foot Mercedes-Benz facility is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2009.

"The move to Brunswick represents a tremendous opportunity for Mercedes-Benz in terms of further improving efficiencies for our southeast vehicle preparation center – one of the critical steps in the process of bringing new vehicles to market," said Ernst Lieb, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA.

"The proximity to the port, combined with better railroad and highway access and room for expansion, make(s) Brunswick an excellent location for this facility..."

The Port of Brunswick's growth in vehicle processing operations is causing auto manufacturers to pay attention to this community, said Nathan Sparks, executive director of the Brunswick and Glynn County Development Authority.

Brunswick is the sixth largest car import-export port in the nation.

"I think this is the first of many announcements like this," Sparks said. "It's a tremendous opportunity for us. It's like giving the community a seal of approval that we're known worldwide. Not many brands are as well-known as Mercedes."

The additional imports will be consolidated with the more than 75,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles already exported through the port each year.

The Mercedes-Benz consolidation follows a similar move in recent years by Hyundai-Kia to combine its import operations in Brunswick.