Industry Leader - Middle Tennessee Industrial Development

Middle Tennessee Industrial
Development Association
Industry Leader
January 2014
Happy New Year From MTIDA
MTIDA and Tennessee Valley Authority held its Annual
Christmas Celebration at the
Ellington Agriculture Center
in Nashville on December
17th. We had a great turn
out.
Approximately 135
community leaders, TVA
staff, Tennessee Department
of Economic & Community
Development staff, and MTIDA Board members attended. Our official photographer,
Sims Lance retired, but we
were able to get him to take
a few photos of the event.
Calsonic Adds 1,200 Jobs
LEWISBURG, SHELBYVILLE & SMYRNA (September) Calsonic Kansei North America, Inc. (CKNA) officials announced the
company will invest $109 million and add
1,200 new manufacturing jobs across its
facilities in Lewisburg, Shelbyville and
Smyrna.
This is the third 1,000 plus jobs announcement in the last two months. In July, global
services company ARAMARK announced
an investment of $20 million and the creation of 1,000 jobs for a new Business Services Center in Nashville. In late August,
UBS—one of the world’s largest banking
and financial services companies—
announced the company will establish a
shared services center in Nashville, investing $36.5 million and creating 1,000 new
jobs over the next five years.
CKNA will invest $49.8 million at its
Lewisburg facility, which manufactures
electronic components for meters, inverters
and dash electronics, and plastics components for interiors. Approximately 526 new
jobs will be created over the next three
years, in addition to the current 1,117 people already employed at this location.
CKNA’s investment in Lewisburg will also
include the construction of a new 300,000
square foot warehouse facility.
CKNA will invest $57.6 million at its Shelbyville facility, which manufactures exhaust
units, catalytic converters and manifolds.
Approximately 489 new jobs will be created
over the next three years, in addition to the
1,010 people who currently work at this
location.
CKNA will invest $2.1 million at its Smyrna
facility, which is located within the Nissan
plant and places Calsonic products into the
Nissan vehicles. Approximately 183 new
jobs will be created over the next three
years, in addition to the 469 people who
are currently employed at this location.
CKNA expects the expansions will be completed around December 2015. Source:
TN ECD
MARK YOU CALENDAR!
MTIDA ANNUAL MEETING
JULY 31 AND AUGUST 1
AT EMBASSY SUITES
MURFREESBORO
MTIDA Industry Leader
Page 2
Kyowa America Expands in Portland
Kyowa America established its Portland location in 2012, making an investment of $12
million into the area. The corporate office in
Pennsylvania was later closed and Portland
became headquarters and production plant.
Another production plant is located in Mexico
and, in total, Kyowa America employs 400.
PORTLAND, TN (September) Kyowa
America celebrates an expansion at their
facility in Portland. Kyowa already has 130
full-time employees and is preparing to add
60 new employees beginning this fall.
“Portland proudly applauds Kyowa America's outstanding success," City of Portland
Economic & Community Development
Director Denise Geminden said. "The
Kyowa Team and associates are to be
commended for their dedication to detail
and their keen environmental consciousness. We are pleased to be the location of
choice for Kyowa and we congratulate
their sustaining growth."
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan as Kojima
Press, Kyowa was originally established in
1973 and for nearly 20 years Kyowa specialized in televisions, but switched to all automotive in 2009. They are considered a leader
in automotive plastic injection molding and
specifically manufacture spoilers, instrument
panels, fenders, and door fenders for Toyota
production in Indiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi.
Recognized by Toyota for outstanding performance. Kyowa specializes in manufacturing
high quality, close tolerance plastic parts for
automotive applications.  Source: TN ECD and Kyowa
America Website
Hankook Tire Chooses Clarksville
CLARKSVILLE, TN (October) Hankook
Tire Co., Ltd. officials announced the company will locate its first U.S. manufacturing
facility at the Clarksville Corporate Business Park in Montgomery County. Hankook
Tire, a worldwide manufacturer of superior
quality and high performance radial tires,
will invest $800 million in a state-of-the-art
manufacturing facility and create 1,800 new
jobs in Clarksville. The company is expected to break ground on the new plant by
the end of 2014 and begin tire production
by 2016.
Becoming the largest tenant at the Clarksville Corporate Business Park, Hankook
Tire plans to build its facility on 469 acres
over the next few years. Construction is
scheduled to begin in 2014 and will result
in a 1.5 million square foot advanced manufacturing facility which will produce highend performance tires.
Tennessee’s automotive sector, the largest
in the South in terms of employment, has
GM Adds Shifts
SPRING HILL, TN (September) General Motors’
Spring Hill plant will add a second shift to its new Ecotec four-cylinder engine assembly line in January,
adding about 100 jobs to the plant’s current workforce,
the company said Thursday.
The automaker will fill some of the positions using
internal candidates but will hire others from outside
the plant through a pool of prequalified applicants,
according to the United Auto Workers union, which
represents the hourly workers at the facility. Hiring will
take place beginning in January and continue through
the year as the line ramps up.
GM has two Ecotec four-cylinder engine production
lines at Spring Hill, now employing about 600 workers.
The expansion will take place on the newer of the two,
which opened in August 2012. It produces the newestgeneration of the Ecotec four-cylinder — the LCV 2.5liter, a more-fuel-efficient version used in such vehicles as the Chevrolet Malibu, Impala and Equinox.
The Spring Hill plant also builds four-cylinder versions
of the Equinox crossover utility vehicle, which uses the
engines also made in the facility. About 1,700 hourly
workers are now employed at Spring Hill.
GM said it would add two more vehicles to the Spring
Hill assembly line by 2015, in addition to the Equinox.
That would add or retain about 1,800 workers, GM
said.  Source: The Tennessean
led the state’s post-recession economic
recovery having generated over 12 percent
of the state’s job creation since the recession and more than one-third of the manufacturing sector’s output growth since 2010.
The automotive industry includes 910 companies employing 113,148 Tennesseans
and investing $31.5 billion.
“TVA is grateful and delighted that
Hankook Tire, one of the fastest growing
advanced manufacturers in the world, has
selected Clarksville as the location for its
first U.S. production facility,” TVA President
and CEO Bill Johnson said. “TVA is dedicated to our economic development mission of helping recruit and grow high quality
jobs and investments in our region and we
are pleased to have been part of the effort.
We appreciate the diligent work of our partners — the state of Tennessee, Clarksville
and Montgomery County officials and the
Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation — to make this project possible.”
Mr. Seung Hwa Suh, Vice Chairman and Global CEO of Hankook Tire.
Founded in 1941 in Korea, Hankook Tire is
one of the fastest growing tire companies in
the world. With approximately 20,000 employees and five state-of-the-art R&D centers, Hankook Tire produces superior quality
and high performance radial tires at its seven manufacturing facilities in four different
countries, and its products are available in
more than 180 countries. The U.S. plant in
Clarksville will be the company’s eighth production facility. Source: TN ECD
MTIDA Industry Leader
Page 3
Asurion Finds Premier Spot in Nashville
NASHVILLE, TN (October)
Growing demand for personal
technology assistance is driving
Asurion, the leading provider of
comprehensive technology solutions and protection plans, to expand its Nashville operations. The
company announced it will be
opening a Premier Support Solutions Center, located at 5720
Crossings Boulevard in Nashville.
The Center will house 800 highlyskilled, personal technology support technicians, in addition to
management and operational pro-
fessionals. The Center is expected
to open in early 2014.
In expanding its local footprint,
Asurion is partnering with the
State of Tennessee, Davidson
County, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce.
The new Premier Support Solutions Center becomes the most
recent addition to Asurion’s growing Nashville presence, which began with the company relocating its
global headquarters in 2003. In
Rogue Rolling in Smyrna
early 2012 Asurion selected downtown’s five-story Ragland Building
for its technology products operations.
Including its Grassmere Park global
headquarters and the new Crossings facility, Asurion has five offices
in Davidson County. Other offices
are located in the So-Bro area of
downtown, One Century near the
airport and additional office space
in Grassmere. The new facility is
122,000 square feet, leased from
American Health Properties, Inc.
The shift of Rogue production to
the United States is part of Nissan's broader strategy to build
where it sells. By 2015, Nissan
aims to have 85 percent of its
products that are sold in the United States produced in North
America.
Nissan's U.S. manufacturing footprint in Smyrna spans more than
three decades and includes a
number of iconic Nissan nameplates such as Altima, Pathfinder,
Xterra, Frontier and Sentra.
Nissan's Smyrna Plant now employs more than 7,000 people
with an annual payroll in excess
of $275 million. The plant is home
to the award-winning Altima, Maxima, Pathfinder, LEAF and Infiniti
QX60, as well as the country's
largest lithium-ion automotive
battery plant supporting production of the all-electric, zeroemission Nissan LEAF. Source:
TN ECD
As mobile devices and electronics
form complex networks of connected, smart technologies,
Asurion’s Premier Support Solutions brings together the fragmented technical support market,
by providing consumers with a
single, knowledgeable resource
for technical assistance, regardless of device or operating system. Source: TN ECD
Great Lakes Cheese Selects Manchester
SMYRNA, TN (October) Nissan celebrated two major milestones on October 15 with the
first U.S.-produced 2014 Nissan
Rogue rolling off the line in Smyrna, as the facility's 10 millionth
vehicle build by that plant since
1983.
With the new location, Asurion
will occupy 557,473 square feet in
Davidson County.
County Industrial Board Chairman Bill Comer said. “This
huge operation is a great first
occupant of the park and will
provide many high quality jobs
for area residents. This successful recruitment was the
result of a cooperative effort
among the Coffee County
Industrial Board, the Coffee
MANCHESTER, TN (October) County Commission, and the ManHiram, Ohio-based Great Lakes chester Board of Mayor and AlderCheese officials announced the
men.
company will open its first SouthIt was 1958 when Swiss immigrant
east manufacturing facility at the
Manchester Industrial Park in Man- Hans Epprecht began his small
chester. Great Lakes Cheese will business that delivered bulk
invest $100 million and create over cheeses to neighborhood stores in
Cleveland, Ohio on the southern
200 new jobs in Coffee County.
shore of Lake Erie. Before long,
Great Lakes Cheese will construct retailers began asking for
a 330,000 square foot manufactur- wrapped, pre-cut cheeses in smalling facility in Manchester. The new er sizes and in more cheese variefacility will be the 4th super plant
ties so they could better satisfy
that Great Lakes Cheese operates their customers. This is where the
and its 9th facility nationwide.
Great Lakes Cheese tradition beThe new facility also adds capacity gan. Since then, Great Lakes has
for new customer acquisition in the
southeastern United States. Employment at this new plant is anticipated to reach 200 people by
2019.
“I am extremely excited that Great
Lakes Cheese has selected the
Manchester Industrial Park as the
site for their new plant,” Coffee
grown rapidly by acquisition, plant
expansions, investment in the best
technologies for production and
distribution – and by setting high
industry standards for service.
Currently, Great Lakes serves the
nation's retailers and food service
operations with eight strategic
facilities across the U.S. We earn
this proud tradition of awardwinning quality and customer satisfaction every day. Source: TN ECD
MTIDA Industry Leader
Page 4
Grand Opening in Lawrenceburg
LAWRENCEBURG, TN (November) TPR
Federal-Mogul Tennessee officials from
Tennessee and Japan, and special guests
and dignitaries commemorated their grand
opening with a ceremony and facility tour n
Lawrenceburg.
TPR Federal-Mogul created 90 new jobs at
their facility, which will produce cylinder
liners for aluminum block engines and
house foundry, machining and warehousing functions. Test production will begin in
April 2014 and product shipments will
begin in July 2014.Source: TN ECD
W Squared to Grow
BRENTWOOD, TN
(November) W Squared officials announced the company
will expand its operations in
Brentwood. W Squared will
invest $4 million in infrastructure, including the addition of
nearly 30,000 square feet to its
location at 5500 Maryland
Way, which is expected to
open in late spring of 2014.
Through this expansion, W
Squared will create 115 new
jobs in Williamson County in
order to support a rapidly expanding client base and an
increase in business nationwide.
W Squared’s outsourced solutions allow its clients to focus
on their core competencies. By
providing technology-managed
services, healthcare information technology, finance and
accounting, human resources,
procurement and information
security solutions, W Squared
removes scale as an obstacle
for clients and offers a complete corporate back office.
Selected individually, each
solution provides resolutions to
barriers inhibiting growth. A
Murfreesboro is the Foundation for Cosmetics
MURFREESBORO, TN (November)
Schwan Cosmetics USA officials announced the company will consolidate its U.S. operations by building a
new facility in Murfreesboro. The Middle Tennessee plant will merge
Schwan Cosmetics’ Cosmolab facility
in Lewisburg, Tenn. and its Schwan
Cosmetics USA facility in Piscataway,
N.J. The announcement represents
an investment of $38 million and will
create 250 new jobs over the next
five years. Total employment will
reach 450 as more than 200 jobs will
transfer from the Lewisburg facility.
vate label supplier continuing to build
on Schwan Cosmetics’ heritage of
developing and introducing innovative, market driven color cosmetics.
The plan is to open the new campus
during the first half of 2015.
Founded in 1855, the SchwanSTABILO group is a family-owned
company with more than 4,400 employees worldwide with headquarters
in Heroldsberg, Germany. In addition
to the Cosmetic Division, the
Schwan-STABILO group is a leading
player in stationary writing instruments and special outdoor equipBoth the New Jersey and Tennessee ment. Schwan Cosmetics counts
manufacturing facilities will be consol- internationally-renowned cosmetics
companies among its customers.
idated into this 173,000 square foot
high-tech site. The new Schwan Cosmetics USA will be a full service pri- The 250 new jobs include manufacturing and office positions.Source:
TN ECD
step beyond traditional business process outsourcing, W
Squared provides not only process expertise, but also business expertise creating a business process partner relationship.
W Squared began operating in
Brentwood in 2005 and employs about 170 people at its
Maryland Way location.
In 2012 and 2013, Inc. Magazine named W Squared among
America’s fastest-growing private companies in its Inc.
5000, recognizing W Squared
for their three-year sales
growth of 250%. Inc. Magazine
also featured W Squared in the
ranking of Inc.’s 2012 and 2013
Hire Power Awards, recognizing the private businesses that
have generated the most jobs
in the past three years. W
Squared is also a finalist for the
2013 NEXT Awards recognizing excellence in business and
entrepreneurship in Middle
Tennessee. Source: TN ECD
Simpkins Energy Expands
MCMNNVILLE, TN (November) A Nashville-based company that
manufactures natural gas compressors for fueling vehicles has expanded its operation to Warren County.
Simpkins Energy Corp. purchased a 15,000-square-foot building on
Belmont Drive in McMinnville and is in the process of hiring around 30
employees; 15 are on site so far. The company has also brought Rock
Island’s Boles Tools into its fold for its machining operation.
Kent Simpkins, president of Simpkins Energy, said Boles played a big
factor in the move, calling the deal between the two a consolidated
merger. So far, Simpkins Energy’s machining operation is 100 percent
up and running. Overall, he said they are about 80 percent established.
Simpkins Energy’s natural gas compressors are designed for small-tomedium-sized fleets, and the models are the first of their size to be
manufactured and assembled in the United States. Compressed natural gas (CNG), an alternative to gasoline and diesel, is said to be safer,
less expensive and environmentally cleaner.
While the company calls its Nashville headquarters home, Simpkins
said at some point, he’d like to move the whole business to McMinnville.
Kent Simpkins stated he did credit the McMinnville- Warren County
Industrial Development Board and its director of economic development, George Burke, for their efforts in recruitment. Source: Cumberland Business Journal
MTIDA Industry Leader
New Digital Hub Opens WAYNESBORO, TN (December) ECD was
proud to be part of the grand opening celebration of
the Wayne County Digital Hub this week. A $15,000
ThreeStar grant from ECD provided seed money for
the Hub to be created and work on the new facility to
begin. South Central Tennessee Development District (SCTDD) pledged an additional $10,000, provided by AT&T, and twelve new laptop computers, compliments of Connected Tennessee.
The Hub is located on the upper level of the Wayne
County Court House and its hours of operation are
M-F from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. The Hub will be a
place for people who want to train for and become
self-employed in online work.
In conjunction with the launch of Wayne County’s
new Digital Hub, Connected Tennessee released its
newest report, Digital Workforce Skills and Tennessee Businesses, showing that more than seven out
of 10 Tennessee businesses (71 percent) say it is
“important” or “very important” for potential employees to have digital skills, while two out of five Tennessee businesses (40 percent) say it is “difficult” or
“very difficult” to find employees with the necessary
technical skills.
Wayne County’s Digital Hub, already fitted with laptops donated to the South Central Tennessee Development District by Connected Tennessee in partnership with AT&T, will assist residents with acquiring
various technology skills, training, and working
online.
Additional findings from this report include:
More than three out of four unemployed Tennessee
Internet users (78 percent) go online to find jobs.
More than three out of 10 Tennessee businesses (31
percent) use the Internet to advertise job openings or
accept job applications.
One in 10 Tennessee businesses needs employees
to be able to write software, while one in 12 says
new employees need to be able to create mobile
applications or “apps.”
Three out of 10 Tennessee businesses allow their
employees to telework, while nearly as many (29
percent) provide their employees with the tools necessary (such as cell phones, laptop computers, or
tablets) to work remotely.
“Learning to send or receive e-mail or use the Internet or other basic software programs is a key stepping stone for job seekers aiming to become gainfully employed in today’s increasingly technological
society,” said Corey Johns, Connected Tennessee
executive director. “This new report, Digital Workforce Skills and Tennessee Business demonstrates
that businesses in Tennessee widely recognize the
benefit of using technology to stay competitive, while
attracting and retaining skilled employees." Source:
TN ECD
Page 5
Alcoa's Loss is
Hendersonville's Gain
HENDERSONVILLE, TN
(September) Windham Professionals, a collections agency based in
Salem, N.H., is closing its Alcoa,
Tenn., office and plans to shift growth
to its Hendersonville site, according to
Chief Operating Officer William Higginbotham.
The decision marks a shift in strategy
since April, when the company announced plans for 150 new jobs in
Alcoa and 95 in Hendersonville, part
of a $500,000 investment in Tennessee. The total growth projections
remain the same, but are now
planned for Hendersonville, Higginbotham said.
The Hendersonville site, which now
employs 360 people, is owned by
Windham Professionals, making investment there more efficient than the
Alcoa office, which was leased, Higginbotham said.
The Alcoa announcement in April was
prompted by a strategy to become
less concentrated geographically. The
company added 40 people in Alcoa
before deciding to shift to Hendersonville. Thirty-eight employees at the
Alcoa site were offered jobs in Hendersonville, and 10 people have decided to transfer. The 28 openings
are in the process of being filled,
Higginbotham said.
About 60 employees have been added in Hendersonville since April. 
Source: Nashville Business Journal
Middle Tennessee Industrial
Development Association
2013-2014 Executive Committee
PRESIDENT
Bill Rogers, General Manager
Caney Fork Electric Coop.
P.O. Box 272
McMinnville, TN 37111
VICE PRESIDENT
Darrell Gillespie, General Manager
Dickson Electric System
P.O. Box 627
Dickson, TN 37056
SECRETARY/TREASURER
Jimmy Gregory, General Manger
Upper Cumberland EMC
P.O. Box 159
South Carthage, TN 37030
MEMBERS
Britt Dye, CEO/General Manager
Fayetteville Public Utilities
PO Box 120
Fayetteville, TN 37334-0120
Derek Church, Manager
Mount Pleasant Power System
P.O. Box 186,
Mt. Pleasant, TN 38474-0186
R. Wes Kelley, Executive Director
Columbia Power & Water Systems
P.O. Box 379
Columbia, TN 38401
Ray Knotts
Director, Business & Technical Resources
Tennessee Valley Authority
P.O. Box 292409,
Nashville, TN 37229-2409
The MTIDA Industry Leader is published by the Middle Tennessee
Industrial Development Association
2108 Westwood Avenue, Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615.269.5233
Fax: 615.269.5184
Email: mtida@mtida.org  Website: www.mtida.org
Executive Director: George W. Shuff, III