Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowHarley-Davidson Inc. officials were in Shelby County yesterday assessing it as a location for a new motorcycle plant, but
it isn’t yet clear how the county stacks up to other U.S. locales that also are in the running for the economic-development
prize.
Management from the Milwaukee-based company toured Shelby County after visiting two other potential sites
— Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Shelbyville, Ky. — earlier in the week, Harley spokesman Bob Klein told the Business Journal
of Milwaukee. He said a fourth U.S. community also is under consideration, but he declined to identify it because management
hasn’t made a visit.
The company is scouting sites as it considers scaling back or discontinuing production
at an aging complex in York, Pa., that employs 2,500. Workers there are scattered across 42 buildings with a total of 1 million
square feet. A new plant could employ more than 1,000.
Shelbyville Mayor Scott Furgeson said this morning that
city officials have not offered any economic incentives, but he thinks the state is putting a package together.
“It’s always too early to get excited until you see them digging in the ground,” Furgeson said. “But
just reading about it, it’s an exciting project.”
A spokeswoman for the Indiana Economic Development
Corp. wouldn’t discuss Harley’s interest in Indiana, saying “it’s just too early.”
Incentives could play a key role in attracting or retaining jobs. The state of Pennsylvania already has pledged $15 million
that Harley-Davidson could apply toward upgrading the York complex.
Ferguson is unsure how Shelby County turned
up on Harley-Davidson’s radar. Typically, large companies hire a site-selection consultant who contacts economic development
organizations such as the Indy Partnership, which puts feelers out, Ferguson said.
An Indy Partnership representative
declined to comment.
The company expects to decide how to proceed by the end of the year. Calls to Harley Davidson
were not returned this morning.
Harley-Davidson is an iconic American corporation that is struggling financially
amid the recession and an aging demographic.
In fact, these are probably the leanest times Harley has faced since
going public in 1986, analysts said.
“We are going with the scenario that 2009 is not going to offer any
type of recovery for Harley,” Edward D. Jones & Co. analyst Robin Diedrich said in a recent report.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.