BRASELTON — The verdict is in: Braselton will not serve as the future home for Atlanta-based car company Carbon Motors.

The company, which has developed a state-of-the art law enforcement vehicle, announced Wednesday that it will station its headquarters and manufacturing operations in Connersville, Ind.

Braselton was a top contender in the company’s search, along with sites in South Carolina and Indiana.

The Braselton site is located in south Hall County near Ga. 211, according to Tim Evans, vice president of economic development for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce.

Hall County was notified of Carbon Motors’ decision on Tuesday.

Despite the decision, Evans said the process was a positive one for the county.

"We were just thrilled to be a finalist in the project," he said. "It’s a great accomplishment."

In fact, Evans said he thinks the attention received from the contest will help attract future economic development to the area.

"The upside of this is we know we have a great site and a great community and this project has confirmed it," he said.

Several factors, he said, played a part in the company choosing the Indiana site, including the fact that it had an existing building for the company.

Carbon Motors is planning to base its headquarters and operations in a 1.8 million square-foot-facility, formerly occupied by auto supplier Visteon Corp.

Additionally, Indiana’s incentives package and location were also key factors in the company’s decision, Evans said.

A company press release stated Carbon Motors will invest over $350 million to develop and produce the Carbon E7, which the corporation describes as "the world’s first purpose-built law enforcement patrol vehicle."

Carbon Motors, started by former Ford Motor Company executives in 2003, plans to start production on the E7 cruiser in 2012. This move could create as many as 1,500 jobs.

Among the E7’s features are bullet-proof door and dash panels, radiation and biological threat detectors, an automatic license plate recognition system, integrated emergency lights and a clean diesel engine.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels attended Wednesday’s announcement in Connersville, but state officials acknowledged several hurdles still facing the project, including complications in buying the plant since Michigan-based Visteon filed for bankruptcy protection in May.

Carbon Motors also is applying for a loan through the U.S. Department of Energy to help finance production of the squad car.

"We’ve got a long road ahead of us," company chairman and CEO William Santana Li said. "There’s going to be a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make this all happen."

Still, residents in the city about 50 miles east of Indianapolis celebrated the decision. Fayette County, which includes Connersville, has had a jobless rate of at least 9.7 percent since early 2008, soon after Visteon closed the factory that once employed more than 3,000 people making vehicle heating and cooling systems.