What a difference a state makes!

For several weeks, we've known that a site in Indiana and a site in Ohio were finalists for a new Honda factory. On June 28th, it was revealed that Indiana's location (about halfway between Indianapolis and Cincinnati) was chosen.

Coincidentally, I was traveling from Indiana to Ohio that day, and got to see two different takes on the story.

Indianapolis Star

Japanese automaker Honda today will announce it has chosen a Greensburg site for a car assembly plant that would employ 1,500 workers and could launch an economic boom in the state's hard-pressed southeastern corner.

Honda will reveal the plant's location this morning at a news conference in Greensburg, according to a source familiar with the deal who asked not be identified. The source wasn't authorized to discuss the matter.

Gov. Mitch Daniels cut short his South Korean trade mission and flew out of Seoul on
Tuesday to attend today's announcement.

Honda's plant might double in size soon after its 2008 opening, analysts say, as the automaker pours on capacity to meet high consumer demand at a time when the Detroit automakers are cutting more than 75,000 U.S. jobs in total.

Rather than pick up autoworkers stranded by Detroit, analysts say Honda apparently chose Indiana over the Honda stronghold of Ohio in part to tap into the tens of thousands of fresh industrial recruits eager for a shot at factory work.

Dayton Daily News

Honda's planned investment in a new auto assembly plant is even bigger than Indiana officials had hoped: $550 million in a factory that will employ 2,000, the automaker said Wednesday.

Public officials in Greensburg and surrounding Decatur County, halfway between Cincinnati and Indianapolis, had said Tuesday that Honda told them to expect a $400 million investment and 1,500 to 1,700 jobs.

Indiana officials were beaming as American Honda Motor Co. officials made the announcement during a news conference transmitted worldwide from the southeastern Indiana town of 10,260. The plant is likely to attract hundreds of other jobs from suppliers that choose to locate nearby, officials said.

Ohio, a loser in an intense Midwest competition to attract the plant, said suppliers in the Buckeye State will benefit from serving the new plant. Honda's engine plant in Anna will make engines for the new factory.

What's not captured in these articles is the front page headlines. The Star's was "Hello, Honda!" The Daily News's headline was equally morose.

UPDATE:

BizzyBlog highlights an Ohio tax that may have factored into the decision.