North Alabama Native Brings Touch Of Huntsville History To Mazda Toyota Plant

By Alabama NewsCenter Staff

When it came to naming the two assembly lines at the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing U.S.A. plant (MTMUS) under construction in Huntsville, the job fell to a lifelong North Alabama resident and University of Alabama in Huntsville grad who had been hired this year as the plant’s general manager, assembly.

Lance Fulks faces many challenges getting the $1.6 billion factory, the latest major addition to Alabama’s growing auto sector, through start-up mode and ready to start auto production in 2021. He was prepared for the job by 20 years of experience in manufacturing and a degree in industrial and systems engineering. Still, as busy as he was with other duties, he took the seemingly simple task of naming the assembly lines seriously.

He just wasn’t sure MTMUS management would take the idea he came up with seriously, he said with a chuckle. But his solution helps define the company’s place in Huntsville’s future by honoring the most important part of the city’s history.“When MTMUS’ management asked me to help come up with names for our two lines, I didn’t know how to start,” Fulks said. “I froze! This task was something I ordinarily wouldn’t do; however, it provided me with an opportunity to get creative, especially being from North Alabama.”

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