Toyota executives, government officials and community leaders applaud during a June 17 news conference in which Toyota announces it is resuming construction of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi (TMMMS). The plant will soon hire 2,000 team members and build the Corolla compact sedan beginning in the fall of 2011. From left to right, from the podium, TMMMS Vice President of Production & Administration David Copenhaver, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Toyota Motor North America President & COO Yoshimi Inaba, Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America President & COO Tetsuo Agata and TMMMS Chairman Steve St. Angelo.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour speaks at a news conference, June 17, 2010, during which Toyota announces it will resume construction of a plant near Tupelo, Miss.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, left, and Steve St. Angelo, chief quality officer of Toyotas North American Quality Task Force, speak after a news conference, June 17, 2010, during which Toyota announced it will resume construction of a plant near Tupelo, Miss. The plant will hire 2,000 team members and build the Corolla compact sedan beginning in the fall of 2011.

Steve St. Angelo, chief quality officer of Toyotas North American Quality Task Force, speaks at a news conference, June 17, 2010, during which Toyota announces it will resume construction of a plant near Tupelo, Miss. The plant will hire 2,000 team members and build the Corolla compact sedan beginning in the fall of 2011.

Steve St. Angelo, chief quality officer of Toyotas North American Quality Task Force, speaks at a news conference, June 17, 2010, during which Toyota announces it will resume construction of a plant near Tupelo, Miss. The plant will hire 2,000 team members and build the Corolla compact sedan beginning in the fall of 2011.

Members of the Pontotoc County Board of Supervisors, left to right, Dennis Corder, Ernie Wright, Duane Tutor, DeWayne Graham, and Wayne Stokes, attend a June 17 news conference during which Toyota announced it will resume construction of a plant near Tupelo, Miss.

Yoshi Inaba, president and COO of Toyota Motor North America, announces Toyota will resume construction of a plant near Tupelo, Miss., at a news conference, June 17, 2010. The plant will hire 2,000 team members and build the Corolla compact sedan beginning in the fall of 2011.