The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, which serves the Tupelo, Mississippi community, says it has confirmed that Japanese automaker Toyota is building an $800 million manufacturing plant at the 1,700-acre Wellspring Project mega-site. The Journal reported that it had confirmed the news at 6:44 pm Monday evening.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is scheduled to make a “major economic development” announcement on Tuesday morning at 9 am in Tupelo.

The Toyota plant, which would be the automaker's eighth vehicle assembly factory in North America, is set to have an annual production capacity of 150,000 units and would come on line in 2009, according to previous reports. Toyota is expected to build its Highlander SUV model at the plant.

The Wellspring Project is a three-county region in northeast Mississippi that has pooled resources to attract industry to the area. According to its web site, there is a civilian labor force of 276,500, which seems small to be considered for a super project factory. There are no other auto assembly manufacturing facilities within a 60-mile radius, and a closer look at the Wellspring Project map shows how this Toyota factory would fit into the jigsaw puzzle of the southern “Automotive Universe.”

Here is what is the likely clincher for the region. As Talk Business reported two weeks ago, Toyota is struggling to control its labor costs. Mississippi touts its Wellspring Project region’s labor costs as “relatively low.”

From its web site: “U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures indicate the average weekly manufacturing wages in the three counties forming the Wellspring Project range from 60% to 72% of the U.S. average figure.”

The U.S. average manufacturing wage for January 2007 was $16.97 per hour, or $33,940 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Translation for Mississippi: 60% = $20,364 and 72% = $24,437. 

According to the latest statistics, Mississippi’s average manufacturing wage is $25,650 annually, compared to Arkansas’ average manufacturing wage of $32,240.

UPDATE:  Also, Jason Wiest with the Arkansas News Bureau has more reporting on this issue. Click here to read his coverage.

Talk Business will continue to update this story as more details become available.