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A German manufacturer seeking to establish a bigger footprint on this side of the Atlantic has its eye on Blount County.

The prize — a North American headquarters and manufacturing operation.

Bryan Daniels, Blount Partnership executive vice president for industrial development, is cautious about announcing the negotiations. It is premature to name the company or reveal its business, he said. Nothing is guaranteed, especially in the current business climate.

But he expressed confidence in the eventual outcome.

"It is too early to tell if that whole plan works out, but it really looks promising," Daniels said.

There are reasons for optimism, starting with a connection made in 2003. That's the year when Blount Partnership and company officials met through state of Tennessee economic recruiters. The German firm was seeking a site in a Southern state to establish a North American headquarters.

"We went through a year-and-a-half process of competing with states. Then it went down to regions. Then it went down to counties, and it became between us and Charlotte, (N.C.)," Daniels said.

The problem was -- for the Blount County players -- Charlotte had a hole card and played it with the German firm.

"Both sides made their pitches. One of their large customers was based in Charlotte. (The North Carolina company) kind of pulled rank and said, 'If you want to supply us, you'll be here.' So they notified us they weren't coming," Daniels said.

That could have been the end, but Blount County recruiters had hit it off with the Germans doing legwork for their company's search — especially with the lead site researcher. They parted ways, but kept in touch. Every couple of months or so, the Blount County Industrial Development office contacted the Germans by phone or e-mail. Asked how they were doing. Offered to help out with whatever. Invited them to stop by for a visit when they returned to the states.

Turn of events

The Germans continued moving forward with their headquarters project, but their big customer in Charlotte saw its own market soften along with its clout.

"The Germans kind of started getting a little nervous and said, 'Well, we'll postpone.' That postpone led into a full delay. Then the economy tanked," Daniels said.

Despite the economy, the market for the German company's product is on the upswing, and they are looking at reviving the North American headquarters project. Some other things have changed. A number of family members in management of the family-owned company have since retired. The scout who did the primary legwork for the headquarters search -- a member of the family -- is now a 50 percent owner of the firm.

"He's one of two who controls the company," said Daniels, who noted the manufacturer is doing well in spite of hard times for many firms across the globe.

"One thing I've seen about the German companies -- when we did our recruiting trip to Germany last fall, and then more recently with this guy -- the German economy is pretty strong. There hasn't been a whole lot of government intervention there. We talked about that with him," Daniels said.

"His is a strong enough company they can do whatever they want to with or without lending institutions."

Return visit

The company executive was back in the states recently with some of his board members. They visited their customers in the Midwest to consult about their U.S. plans. They also visited Blount County. The executive told Blount County's economic development team that he supports the Blount County proposal and his board knows it.

"He told his board, 'If we ever go to America, we're going to Blount County because they're the only ones that ever cared about us.' Because they never heard a peep out of Charlotte."

Daniels said the national and international economic situation is the biggest obstacle to attracting and growing business. He just hopes interested companies don't wait for a total economic turnaround before taking a shot in Blount County.

"We've got three projects that are close. We're truly at the point of where -- let's sign the deal, let's sign the deal."

Promising, but not something that puts dinner on the table.

"That doesn't help anybody right now, I realize that. But at least we've got those, and they are major employment opportunities,," Daniels said.

"The ball's in those companies' courts. The negotiations are over. It is like -- pull the trigger."