Gov. Phil Bredesen holds up the Times Free Press’ special edition telling of VW’s selection of Chattanooga

Ten months have passed since the lobby at the Hunter Museum of American History was crowded with anxious Chattanoogans awaiting the word.

Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, looked across a sea of unfamiliar but expectant faces, grabbed hold of a steering wheel with Gov. Phil Bredesen, and announced that Volkswagen had chosen Chattanooga for its North American manufacturing plant.

That was the beginning and after the movement of millions of cubic yards of dirt, VW is accelerating on an aggressive time schedule to roll out a new, mid-sized car in early 2011.

The cameras that were installed by the city and county during the VW courting period are no longer required to gauge the progress.

Earth movers, resembling boxcars pulled by an engine, that leveled the Enterprise South site have been replaced by construction trucks hauling gravel, cement and steel girders, sketching out on the dirt-laden site the footprint for a 21st century facility.

Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG, poses for the press during the shareholders meeting of the company in Hamburg, northern Germany, Thursday, April 23, 2009

From the handful of Germans that came to a mid-sized Southern city in the fall of 2008, VW officials now fill the floors of a downtown office building. The only missing signal is the white-on-blue sign with the bold VW etched on the city’s skyline. But in time that too may appear, sharing for all to see that Volkswagen is at home in the Tennessee Valley. Job fairs have been held with lines streaming out the doors.

Plans are under way for technical training at Chattanooga State Technical Community College. Suppliers are being assembled to provide just in time delivery.

An early tantalizing glimpse of the car that will roll off the assembly line here has been shared.

What seemed a blur at the time in July 2008 becomes more defined as each day passes in 2009.

Volkswagen similar to the plans that emerged from the visioning process in the 1980s is shaping the community. The Chattanooga image will be partnered and linked with the VW brand. The relationship is an example of the type of connections that symbolize the renewal of the city.

What seemed a blur in time 10 months earlier is taking shape on the ground at Enterprise South, tying together cities and counties in the Tri-state region in an expected multi-layered economic expansion. TFP

s1