Toyota moves into its $1 billion West Plano campus in mid-2017. It’s a project that has been years in the making. Thursday, CEO Jim Lentz discussed the idea of “One Toyota,” the groundbreaking new campus and Toyota’s plans to hire over 1,000 people for the new headquarters.
“When we talk about this concept of “One Toyota,” it’s really about more than just one building, it’s about bringing together all of our affiliates under one roof,” Lentz said during the press conference. “We like to say that it’s more than a building. It’s really about a mindset. Every day, I’m so excited to be able to see this mindset in action. There’s a tremendous sense of energy around Toyota … Our new North American headquarters with this One Toyota mindset is giving us better ways to serve not only our team members, but also our customers, as well as the community.”
Toyota has already begun giving to the North Texas community, upwards of $1 million each to support Plano education, to the DART system to provide transportation to the elderly, and to the Texas Ranger Foundation Youth Academy. They also provided the North Texas Food Bank with their production system expertise.
Toyota’s new home will be a stunning campus, an embodiment of Toyota’s values. Lentz described it with four words: Inspiring, collaborative, innovative and sustainable.
A key aspect he highlighted were the state-of-the-art features which demonstrate stewardship to environment. The buildings will be primarily made of glass to let in as much natural light as possible. The construction uses regional building materials such as Texas limestone and the landscape will be done with native plants, including 1,000 new trees. The irrigation systems can catch and store 400,00 gallons of water and the headquarters will be 25% solar powered.
“The construction itself resembles a small city,” Lentz says. There are 1600 workers on a 100 acre site and as construction ramps up, there will be 2200 workers on site.
Plano is enjoying a cultural and economic boom. Toyota is part of it and excited to keep it going. “We have more than 1100 team members on the ground today, tripling our population from a year ago and several hundred more will join us by the end of this year,” said Lentz. “… Our recruiting team is working very hard to find those that really want to help us challenge what’s possible–for their roles in Toyota and also their roles in this great American auto industry… To meet our needs, we’re hiring over 1,000 team members.”
It’s a fantastic time to be in the automobile industry. Toyota’s long term goal is to address mobility challenges for everyone. Research teams are developing personal robotics to provide mobility to the elderly and those with handicaps, autonomous mobility with advanced safety systems. They’re also seeking different ways to connect technologies and help cars deliver a more personalized driving experience to their customers.
Lentz continued, “During my career with Toyota, I’ve learned that consumers expect a lot more than a great product and great services from the companies they do business with because they want to do business with companies that share their values. And they want to do business with companies that want to make this world a better place.”
Mayor Harry LaRosiliere spoke as well, lauding Toyota’s community efforts. He credited Toyota as an important catalyst for growth in Plano.
“I’ve often said that this area here is the Center of the Universe,” he said. “When Toyota opens its doors in 2017, it’ll be the Big Bang.”
Toyota is now hiring committed individuals in the Plano community, ready to be a part of their bright future. Toyota’s new campus opens in Plano 2017.
Want to be a part of it? Visit: Toyota.com/careers
For more renderings such as the above, see the FAST FACTS video on City of Plano’s Facebook page.
