Team Aruba officially opens race shop

Team Aruba officially opens race shop

By CHARLES L. WARNER

Published:

Thursday, April 17, 2008 1:56 PM CDT

Staff Writer

Union County's enthusiasm for motorsports helped make it the U.S. home base for Team Aruba, Ven Eaman says.

Team Aruba's U.S. Home Base Complex held its grand opening celebration Wednesday. The complex, located on the Whitmire Highway, is the centerpiece of Union County's efforts to become a motorsports hub.

While access to highways was important, it was the people of Union County and their commitment to motorsports that was the deciding factor in the team's decision to locate here, Eaman, who is team coordinator, said.

“It's a very exciting day, we've been working toward this day for awhile now,” he said. “We met the people of Union at Rockingham, N.C., at the race. They knew about us, they knew that we didn't have a U.S. base. They invited us over, we came for several meetings and we got to know the people. They are motorsports-minded (and) didn't leave us any other choice but to pick Union as our U.S. home base. We're glad and we don't regret it; we're going to do great things together.”

Eaman predicted his team would win a world championship “in the near future” for both Aruba and Union County. He added that Team Aruba will also work to help attract more racing teams and related motorsports industries to the county.

Eaman's brother, Henny, the former prime minister of Aruba, compared the enthusiasm in Union for Team Aruba to that in his country as it worked to overcome an economic crisis it faced at the beginning of his first term in office.

“We had a big crisis and we made a plan and we had a very enthusiastic team,” he said. “In that enthusiasm that you see today in the eyes of everyone that's involved I recognize a team that is going to grow and is going to work together and is going to accomplish lots of big things for the venture between the City of Union and Team Aruba.”

In addition to motor sports, the Eamans are looking to expand their business by setting up an exchange involving the import of water, beer and possibly aloe products made in Aruba and exporting steel products and machinery from Union County. The Eamans are also involved in the textile industry and will be looking at possible opportunities for trade between the county and Aruba.

Union Mayor Bruce Morgan welcomed the Eamans' commitment to helping bring motor sports and other economic development to the county.

“This has just been a wonderful day for Union, for Team Aruba and for Union's future,” he said. “We think this is just the beginning of being able to recruit additional racing teams and motorsports people to Union.

“This shows the commitment of some of these organizations to the sport and with Ven Eaman and his entire family making Union their United States home base means that they will continue to invest money here in the area and help us recruit additional teams to come to Union,” he said.”

Mike Petrie, president of the Union County Motorsports Association, served as master of ceremonies and spoke on the impact motor sports can have on a community.

“We all understand the economic impact that motorsports can have on Union County,” he said. “Motorsports is an industry and people around here are starting to recognize that.

North Carolina long ago recognized Motorsports as an industry and because of that they're way ahead of the curve,” he said. “A good example is in 2005 motorsports poured $5.9 billion into the state of North Carolina and created 27,000 new jobs. Maybe on a smaller scale, we hope to accomplish the same thing here.”

Supervisor Donnie Betenbaugh pointed out that motorsports has a long history in the county.

“Team Aruba's formally announcing their location here along with all the other things going on in motorsports here in Union County, it looks as though our future will be very bright for the motorsports industry and the economy of motor sports in Union County. We're very excited to be a part of that.”

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