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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

To the Editor:

In "Toyota, Moving Northward" (column, July 25), Paul Krugman 
oversimplifies the factors that go into the decision to build a new 
automobile plant.

When a company like Toyota decides to build a $650 million plant, there are 
many criteria, such as infrastructure, access to highways and rail systems, 
utility costs, tax and regulatory climate and, yes, the cost of providing 
comprehensive benefits. The primary reason for the selection of the Ontario 
site was its proximity to our existing plant in the province, which will 
manage many administrative functions for the new plant.

Toyota is growing its operations all over North America. We currently have 
eight new plants or expansions in the works, including nearly $1.6 billion 
in upcoming United States investment alone.

And much of this expansion is taking place in Southern states like Alabama. 
We opened a plant in Huntsville three years ago, and have expanded it 
twice. The work force there has been highly motivated, well trained and 
productive. Almost 30 percent of our hourly team members are college 
graduates, and 97 percent are high school graduates.

Dennis Cuneo
Senior Vice President
Toyota Motor North America
New York, July 27, 2005

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/01/opinion/l01toyota.html