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What North Carolina Was Willing To Offer To Lure Toyota-Mazda Plant To State

(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

The Department of Commerce released documents on the Toyota-Mazda courtship after receiving a public records request.

In short, North Carolina offered a $1.6 billion incentive package to the automakers, an amount not typically seen in the state's negotiations with businesses.

According to the News & Observer, the state worked hard to put together an enticing offer. That included hundreds of millions of dollars for infrastructure improvements and land, along with millions more for things like job training.

State officials even allocated money for a Japanese Saturday School, a program that would educate the children of Japanese managers in their native language.

Ultimately, North Carolina played runner-up to Alabama, which also offered state and local incentives north of $1 billion.

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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