Staff Photo by John Rawlston
U. S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), left, talks with Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey, center, and Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield on Thursday while touring the construction site of the VW plant being built at the Enterprise South industrial park.

Though local, state and federal leaders already have been successful in luring Volkswagen to Chattanooga, the recruiting won’t stop there, officials said at a press conference held today at the site of the future plant.

“An auto assembly plant is a money magnet,” said U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., whom Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield and Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey escorted out to the Enterprise South property for a quick tour. “Thousands of new auto supply jobs will follow the 2,000 new jobs planned for the assembly plant.”

Federal, state and local leaders will take Volkswagen’s lead in attracting suppliers that fulfill the automaker’s needs, said Sen. Alexander.

Sen. Alexander declined to name any specific prospects but said that whatever companies take root here, it is likely that they will double or even triple local job openings by the time the plant begins production in early 2011.

Some of those suppliers already are here in Chattanooga and simply need to expand in order to capitalize on the new market, which likely will include energy-efficient technology, Mr. Littlefield noted.

“I’ve talked to at least a couple of local companies, and they anticipate adding employees,” he said.

For complete coverage, see tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press.