Jobs & Economy

Toyota: Setting the Standard of Success

In an effort to diversify West Virginia's economy and bring new high-paying jobs to the state, Senator Rockefeller first met with Toyota officials in 1986 to convince them to build a major automotive plant in West Virginia. After dozens of meetings, both in West Virginia and in Japan, his decade-long effort paid off in 1996 with an announcement that Toyota was locating a $400 million engine and transmission plant in Buffalo with 350 jobs.

When Toyota made the decision to invest in West Virginia, it marked the first time the company would build an automatic transmission plant outside of Japan. West Virginia workers quickly convinced Toyota that it made the right decision by becoming one of the most productive automotive plants in the world.

As a result, the Buffalo facility has expanded five times in 10 years bringing Toyota's investment in West Virginia to over $1 billion along with an astounding 1,500 good, high-paying jobs.

A testament to their success, for five straight years the Buffalo plant was named the most productive automotive plant in North America by the Harbour Report -- the auto industry authority on manufacturing efficiency, productivity and quality.

The Buffalo facility now produces engines for the Toyota Corolla, Avalon, Matrix, Sienna, Lexus RX 300 and GM vibe, and transmissions for the Camry, Solara, and the Lexus RX 300. In addition, the plant is beginning production on a new six-speed transmission.

The West Virginia plant has also, almost single-handedly, spawned more than 200 automotive-related suppliers around the state who have grown to serve not only Toyota, but also other car manufacturers in the U.S.

All of this growth has taken West Virginia, in just 10 short years, to its position today as a major center for American automotive manufacturing.