But that anticipation is quickly fading, replaced by skepticism that South Carolina-based Force Protection will ever open the plant. The company is wrestling with difficulties including accounting problems, shareholder lawsuits and eroding market share.
"I think there's a very good chance they will close the plant, probably due to a lack of orders," said Joseph Maxa, who tracks the military vehicle market for Dougherty & Co. in Minneapolis. "It's probably in their best interest to consolidate."
The 12-year-old Ladson, S.C., company was promised state and local incentives last year when it agreed to revamp a factory on the edge of town just north of Durham and create 270 jobs.
The company began work on the project in December to much fanfare, including a catered event attended by North Carolina's two U.S. senators.
But three months later, Force Protection is behind on hiring and production. It had planned to have at least 70 workers by now turning out blast-resistant vehicles for the military. As of Thursday, the company had fewer than two dozen employees, and the assembly line remained dormant.
Force Protection spokesman Tommy Pruitt denied that there are plans to abandon the plant, which the company bought last year to manufacture its Cheetah line of vehicles, a design that promises to be lighter and more nimble than previous models.
Pruitt declined to say when Force Protection might begin hiring and producing vehicles at the plant, which had been vacated by auto parts maker Collins & Aikman.
Last week, Force Protection delayed its annual report for the second time, citing accounting errors in the recording of inventory and accounts payable to a former subcontractor. Company officers face several shareholder lawsuits filed this month alleging illegal stock manipulation.
Mine-resistant vehicles
The company's shares have plunged to less than $2 from nearly $25 in October. And larger rivals are stealing market share by winning contracts for mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, known as MRAPs.
Despite having been the largest supplier of MRAPs to the U.S. Marines, Force Protection continues to be a small player in the global defense market, said Tim Quillin, who covers the industry for Stephens Inc. in Little Rock, Ark.
Force Protection has only one other plant -- in Ladson. There, it makes other MRAPs, including the Cougar, a larger vehicle with more soldier capacity than the Cheetah.
As for the company's potential, "it's hard to point to a true competitive advantage," Quillin said. "Making vehicles is hard. The quality control you get with a big automaker just isn't there in a small-batch producer."
Force Protection has lost business in recent months to big rivals including Navistar International and BAE Systems. Those two competitors won 99 percent of the latest $1.1 billion awarded for blast-resistant vehicles, according to the Defense Department.
Under the deal reached in July with the state, Force Protection is eligible for grants totaling about $3 million if it meets job-creation targets of about 65 jobs for each year from 2007 to 2010.
Among the incentives are a job development investment grant for $2.07 million over four years and $500,000 from the One North Carolina Fund. Both are designed to foster job growth in rural areas such as Person County, where the January unemployment rate was 6.4 percent, compared with 3.7 percent in the Triangle and 4.9 percent statewide.
Local governments are required to match grants from the One North Carolina fund, though there's been nothing to match yet. There won't be if the company does not meet the economic development targets, said Deborah Barnes, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Commerce.
"We hope this all works out fine, but if it doesn't, there is no risk to us," Barnes said. "No money goes out if a company doesn't meet the targets."
frank.norton@newsobserver.com or (919) 829-8926
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