High-Profile German Visit

The German Consulate General makes a stop in Chattanooga to talk about opportunities for German companies moving here and the thousands of jobs they'll create.

Work is moving literally around-the-clock to finish the site for Volkswagen at Enterprise South so they can begin pouring concrete in November.

As that progresses, German officials are in town cementing new business and education partnerships.

Dr. Lutz Gorgens, Consulate General of the Federal Republic Of Germany in Atlanta said "it is really wonderful to celebrate here the marriage between Chattanooga and Volkswagen."

Bringing billions of dollars in investments and thousands of jobs begins with making lifelong partnerships. Thursday, Dr. Gorgens and the President of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern United States, Kristian Wolf,  focused on education and transportation.

"And Chattanooga is the ideal center of rail transportation," Dr. Gorgens said.

Our railroads will the the backbone of transporting materials and parts to the VW plant, and finished cars to the market place. Already up to 100 German automotive suppliers have set up shop in the Southeast to supply the BMW in South Carolina and Mercedes in Alabama, according to Wolf, who gave a hint of the talks now underway.

"And to also discuss a little bit today how we can help as the German American Chamber Of Commerce on the progress that will be made with many of the suppliers that will undoubtedly follow here over the next months and years," Wolf added.

Of key importance to Germans, is an educated workforce. That's why Thursday's delegation is meeting with political and education leaders to establish partnerships with schools.

"To stress the importance of improvement in the school systems from the primary level onward to combine high technical skills and language skills in German," Dr. Gorgens said. "This is what Volkswagen and the suppliers that will come to this area need."

Dr. Gorgens' Consulate and the German American Chamber will also help begin the process of moving German families to our region.