NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials say they won’t know for several weeks how generous their incentive package for the new Volkswagen AG plant to Chattanooga will be.

Gov. Phil Bredesen and other members of his Cabinet told reporters Tuesday that the German automaker is still working on designing the $1 billion plant, so it’s not yet clear which infrastructure improvements the state will need to be made to the site.
“It’s a fairly complicated package,” Bredesen said. “But it’s competitive with what other states were offering in this process.”

Tennessee state law provides for a $5,000 corporate tax credit for each new employee brought to the state in large industrial projects. Those credits last up to 20 years for investments of at least $1 billion and 1,000 new jobs.

The German automaker said the plant would create 2,000 direct jobs and “add a significant number of jobs in related sectors.”

Since state tax breaks are written into the law, the state isn’t free to adjust their offer without legislative action. But officials can sweeten the pot for investors with local tax incentives and the state’s “fast track” funding for infrastructure improvements and job training.