RINGGOLD, Ga.-- A year after Volkswagen announced it was building a plant in Chattanooga, North Georgia officials say they have reached a critical time in persuading suppliers to build in the region.

"We're in that window from April to October where we need to get a supplier in here," said Catoosa County Commission Chairman Keith Greene. "We're poised and ready for whatever comes our way."

Industrial boards and commissions across the region are moving to buy or improve land for industrial parks, hoping to lure suppliers to build. Walker and Dade counties may add hundreds of acres to their existing parks, while Catoosa County is nearing a contract with a developer to prepare and market its park.

Stephanie Watkins, project manager for the Northwest Georgia Development Authority, said the time frame for everything is "as soon as possible."

"I think we're going to be pretty busy," she said.

The clock is ticking, said Dade County executive Ted Rumley.

"If you haven't really got stuff going in eight or nine or 10 months, that's not good," he said.

And while officials from each county said they are working together to draw suppliers to the region first and foremost, they also acknowledged that they are also competing against each other.

"It's not like we're really competing, but we really are," Mr. Rumley said. "We're just being nice about it."

"We want the appropriate county to get the appropriate business, but we all want the best one," said Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell.

Officials from each county said closeness to the VW plant and access to major highways are key advantages they have over more distant counties.

Interstate 75 runs through Whitfield and Catoosa counties, and officials there point out the advantages of being between Atlanta and the plant.

Mr. Rumley said Interstate 59 in Dade County would provide suppliers easy access to the Chattanooga plant and a quick route to other automotive plants around Birmingham, where a Honda and a Mercedes plant are located within 40 miles of the city.

Ms. Heiskell said she hoped suppliers would look at U.S. Highway 27 as a direct route from Walker and Chattooga into Chattanooga to the north and the new Kia plant in West Point, Ga., to the south.

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