[05/28/03] Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and Governor Ronnie Musgrove shake hands in front of the new Quest mini-van unveiled at the opening of the plant in Canton Tuesday. (Melanie Duncan ThortisThe Vicksburg Post)

Jerry Crisler, an employee at the new Nissan plant in Canton, said Tuesday’s grand opening celebration was the fulfillment of a dream he’s had for some time.

Crisler, a technician in the paint plant, represented the more than 2,000 employees who started today full production of the company’s Quest minivan, the first-ever mass-produced vehicle in Mississippi.

Nissan’s President and Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn and Gov. Ronnie Musgrove announced in November 2000 the Japan-based automaker planned to build its newest assembly plant on a 1,400-acre tract just north of Canton beside Interstate 55. Shortly after that announcement, Nissan and companies that would supply parts for the plant began announcing where those plants would be built. Vicksburg and Warren County were able to attract two of the tier-one suppliers to the Ceres Research and Industrial Interplex at Flowers.

Calsonic Kansei Mississippi was the first to announce its plant to make manifolds, exhaust systems and converters and the first to begin production in January. Yorozu Automotive Mississippi was the second to announce and began production earlier this month on aluminum suspension systems.

Taking the stage with executives and politicians, Crisler told the audience that included all 2,040 Nissan employees he and his wife often saw the field where the 3.5-million-square-foot plant now stands as they drove up I-55 to visit relatives.

“When I first heard Nissan would be locating there, it struck me this field would be much like the movie Field of Dreams,'” Crisler said, referring to the phrase in that film: “Build it and they will come.”

He also said he prayed one day he would have the chance to work at Nissan. When the letter arrived with the job offer, he said neighbors must have thought he and his wife had lost their minds because they were dancing and hollering in the front yard.

Eventually, Nissan is expected to offer more than 4,000 jobs at Canton and more than 26,000 at firms “feeding” the mile-long assembly line. The jobs will be the best-paying in Mississippi industrial history, rivaled only by Ingalls in Pascagoula where ships are built under federal contracts.

In his comments, U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., referred to the Balance Agriculture With Industry program begun during the administration of Gov. Hugh White about 50 years ago.

“Today, we are moving into the next phase,” Cochran said. For generations, Mississippi, a mostly rural and agricultural state has struggled to attract manufacturing jobs and was a pioneer in offering tax breaks and other inductments. The state Legislature anteed $363 million in direct incentives to Nissan toward completion of the $1.4 billion plant the most modern car plant in the world.

With the opening of Nissan, one of the state highways in this area will take on new significance. Both Yorozu and Calsonic operate on the “just in time” system. This means they do not build up a stock of parts in warehouses. Instead, they make and ship components so they arrive at the Nissan plant just in time for them to go onto the assembly line.

To accomplish this, trucks carrying the parts from Ceres to Nissan will follow Interstate 20 to Jackson, Interstate 220 around Jackson and I-55 to Canton. However, one serious wreck along the route could stop shipments and, in turn, the assembly line costing millions of dollars per hour.

An alternate route is Mississippi 22 from Edwards to I-55 just north of the Nissan plant at Canton. The only drawback is the road is a winding, two-lane thoroughfare.

The solution is to four-lane Mississippi 22, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation is in the early stages of just such a project, said Central District Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall. But, he said, the project will be more expensive than Mississippi can handle on its own.

“We have been talking to our delegation in Congress,” Hall said, adding the ultimate plan is to build a completely new, four-lane highway that will eventually be a part of a limited access, interstate type bypass all the way around Jackson.

Full completion of the ring highway around Jackson is fully 20 years into the future, Hall said.

The new route would be very advantageous to the Nissan suppliers located at Ceres, said Jimmy Heidel, executive vice president of the Vicksburg Warren County Chamber of Commerce.

“It is only 4.2 miles to Mississippi 22 from Ceres, and it would give them an alternate route,” Heidel said.

“Yorozu has supported the project and strongly believes that it is necessary to improve this highway to attract more industry to our area and enhance our ability to supply our customer’s needs in an uninterrupted, just in time, way,” said Ted Woll, manager of the Yorozu plant at Ceres.

With the launch of production of the Quest minivan, Nissan began the process that will see the Canton plant also produce the full-sized Titan pickup, the Pathfinder Armada SUV, an Infiniti SUV and the Altima sedan by mid 2004. At full production, the plant will be able to make and ship 400,000 vehicles a year.

Warren County Connections

Two Warren County companies are primary suppliers of parts directly to Nissan in Canton:

Calsonic/Kansei of Mississippi supplies manifolds, exhaust systems, and catalytic converters. They have a 150,000-square-foot plant in Ceres Industrial Park with 138 employees.

Yorozu Automotive Mississippi of Vicksburg supplies aluminum suspension systems from a $16.5 million, 80,000-square-foot plant in Ceres Industrial Park. The company will employ 120.