Harley Davidson is considering a 100-acre site on Murfreesboro’s Joe B. Jackson Parkway for a new manufacturing and visitor center. The company is looking at four potential sites as it ponders relocating its largest plant from York County, Pennsylvania.
Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg says Milwaukee-based Harley would like to spread out geographically.
“My understanding is they do not have a southern presence and they like that from the visitor center point of view, they have a very strong following in the south, and certainly a longer riding season.”
Harley officials met with Bragg and Governor Phil Bredesen Monday. The company has also visited a site in Kentucky and plans to see two more.
The York Daily Record newspaper reports that the primary reason Harley wants to leave is inefficiency “at the site in both work rules and infrastructure.” The union contract for the plant’s 2,000 workers ends next year. The International Association of Machinists has scheduled a vote this week that could lead to a strike if contract negotiations break down.
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