Zonda USA met with local officials earlier this year and announced its intentions to move its headquarters to Boise in 2011.
“We’re still hoping to get there by the end of the year,” said Ken St. John, the company’s spokesman.
Manufacturing the full-sized electric buses somewhere in the Treasure Valley could follow soon, he said.
“We’re not talking years,” he said.
Zonda USA is the authorized representative of the Zhongda Industrial Group in the U.S. Founded in 1994, the group has more than 6,900 employees in China. It is headquartered in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province.
Its Chinese plants can produce 15,000 large and medium-sized passenger buses annually. Zonda USA, a separate arm of the company, will serve the same role as U.S. subsidiaries of Japanese and German automakers, St. John said.
“They’re the real deal,” said Nampa Mayor Tom Dale. “They’re a prominent company in China, and the technology with these electric buses seems to be leading edge.”
Clark Krause, Boise Valley Economic Partnership executive director, said the company’s operations will have a significant impact on the Valley if its plans move forward. But so far, no one is saying where the plant would be or how many employees it would have.
“These things take quite a bit of time,” Krause said.
Idaho Department of Commerce officials were not available for comment. Krause said the state has been working with Zonda as it would with any other company considering moving to Idaho.
“No extravagant or big promises were made to this company from the Valley or the state,” he said. “We will make sure that Zonda gets what it deserves in terms of workforce training.”
Idaho was chosen because it had the best business climate, with proximity to Pacific ports that are critical for shipping parts and equipment from China, St. John said. Idaho is the region’s only right-to-work state, which means unions have less power and wages are lower.
“It’s just a great place to do business,” said St. John.
MADE IN THE U.S.
The president of Zonda USA, Joseph Parker, is retired from the U.S. Army and has been involved in the international automobile trade for years. He has worked for Zhongda as a consultant in Africa and was General Motors’ sales manager for Africa.
In its visit earlier this year, Zonda met with Valley Regional Transit officials to see if they were interested in a cooperative arrangement to use electric buses. But the Treasure Valley’s bus operator had just completed updating its fleet of buses that run on compressed natural gas, said Mark Carnopis, a spokesman for the transit system.
“We don’t have any commitment to them,” he said.
On its website, Zonda USA quotes Camarillo, Calif., Mayor Mike Morgan praising the company after a tour of its all-electric bus and battery manufacturing facility in China. He’s hoping to get a Zonda bus for a demonstration project in his city next year, he said Monday.
“I was very impressed with the visual appeal and ergonomics of all the Zonda bus designs, including the all-electric buses,” Morgan said in the press release. “Their designs are simply world-class.”
Buses that are paid for in part with federal funds have to have more than a third of their components manufactured in the U.S., Morgan said. That’s what’s driving Zonda to make them in Idaho.
Zonda’s electric buses have been registered with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, St. John said.
To encourage sales, Zonda USA is offering North American customers financing of up to 100 percent for its all-electric buses.
Krause said he understood that before Zonda can break ground on the manufacturing plant, it would have to get a number of orders in the pipeline. He would not say whether a site had been chosen.
Idaho’s business relationship with China has undergone some wild swings in recent years.
IDAHO-CHINA CONTROVERSY
Gov. Butch Otter led a seven-day, 20-person trade mission there in June 2010 and said relationships forged could deliver Chinese investment and businesses for Idaho.
But skepticism emerged about Idaho’s relations with China, with critics questioning what the state is doing to lure Chinese companies. Otter’s then-Commerce Director Don Dietrich caused an Internet sensation when he said China was interested in creating a “beachhead” in Idaho.
But St. John said the recent anti-China backlash had no impact on its timetable. Krause said he hoped Treasure Valley residents would welcome the company with open arms.
“What they’re creating here are jobs in Idaho and investment in Idaho,” Krause said. “That’s what my neighbors care about.”
Rocky Barker: 377-6484
