SPRING HILL, Tenn. (AP) - General Motors says it plans to invest another $22 million in its Tennessee manufacturing facility to build more engines.
The automotive manufacturer made the announcement Thursday about the growth at the Spring Hill facility.
The company says the investment will let the plant build 6.2-liter V8 engines with GM's dynamic fuel management technology, which uses 17 cylinder patterns to optimize performance.
GM is also finishing a $300 million investment at Spring Hill that will bring more than 200 new jobs to produce the new Cadillac XT6.
The facility opened in 1990 and employs about 3,800 people. GM says it has invested more than $2 billion at the complex since 2010.
How Manufacturers Will Tackle the Talent Shortage in 2019
Industry Week: The U.S. manufacturing industry has experienced tremendous net growth over the past couple of decades. While that’s great news for the industry, manufacturers now face a brutal workforce shortage that threatens to impede continued growth.
In fact, according to research conducted by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute, over the next ten years, manufacturers will likely need to add 4.6 million manufacturing jobs — 2.4 million of which may go unfilled. It’s already happening. Today, more than 500,000 manufacturing jobs remain vacant in the United States.
Why such a dire talent shortage in US manufacturing? Find out more here>>
Plastics & Chemicals: World-Class Cluster In Northeastern Tennessee
It is not an exaggeration to say that the nation’s most dynamic plastics/chemicals and advanced materials cluster can be found in Northeastern Tennessee; the center of this cluster is located in Sullivan County, TN and its communities of Bluff City, Bristol and Kingsport.
Partnership Park II is a publicly owned 223-acre industrial Business Park located adjacent to Highway 394 in Bristol, TN. Parcels ranging from five to 50 acres are available at Partnership Park. (Image: map, btes.net)
Sullivan County’s regional cluster includes the world headquarters of industry giant Eastman Chemicals. Eastman made a $1.6 billion investment in 2013 at its Kingsport, TN facility, which now employs more than 7,300.
The attraction of manufacturing in a cluster that can provide the raw materials and chemical feedstocks you need has brought an impressive array of specialty manufacturers to the Sullivan County region. Domtar Corp. makes high-end sheet rolled paper in Sullivan County; BAE has an explosives manufacturing plant in the county. The regional cluster as a whole exports $15 billion of manufactured product per year (the majority of which is in the chemical/plastics industry).
TCAT project second on legislative priority list
Tennessee College of Applied Technology is reaching closer to an ambitious achievement.
TCAT Director Stewart Smith explained what the project would consist of and what TCAT can gain from it.
The project is called the McMinn County Higher Education Center and was originally conceived as the center for advanced manufacturing and business innovation (CAMBI).
Manufacturer to Invest $6.4m in Tennessee, Create 80 Jobs
LAWRENCEBURG, TENN. (AP) — A Canadian company has announced that it will set up its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Tennessee, an investment of $6.4 million expected to create 80 jobs.
State economic development officials and Craig Manufacturing Ltd. announced plans Friday for a new Lawrenceburg facility slated to be up and running in the second quarter of 2019.
Craig Manufacturing was founded in 1946 and produces steel attachments for heavy construction, forestry, mining, energy and utility equipment. The company's headquarters are in New Brunswick, Canada.
The company will operate out of the 60,000-square-foot Spec building in Team Lawrence Commerce Park. It will add about 7,500 square feet of office space for its U.S. corporate offices.
M&Ms has a new flavor and it'll only be made in Cleveland, Tennessee
A new line of M&Ms will hit store shelves across the country next year, and a new flavor will be made exclusively at the Mars Wrigley Confectionery factory in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Three U.S. factories make M&Ms, but the Cleveland plant makes the widest variety, Site Director Mack Phillips said.
That made it a natural for the new flavor’s production, he said.
“We are actually the biggest M&M plant in the world,” Phillips said.
So, what's new flavor? Click here to find out>>
Nissan invests $170m at Mississippi, Tennessee assembly plants to make new Altima
SMYRNA, Tenn. — Nissan has announced a $170 million investment at assembly plants in Tennessee and Mississippi to produce the 2019 Altima sedan.
Nissan North America made the announcement Thursday at its facility in Smyrna, Tennessee, where the company celebrated the start of production of the car’s sixth generation.
The $170 million investment was used to upgrade its plants in Smyrna and Canton, Mississippi.
Nissan says it now has invested almost $12 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations. The Smyrna plant has produced almost 4.6 million Altima cars since June 1992.
Building workforce for Tennessee's future
Toyota vehicles are built to last, and we expect the same of our workforce, which is why training and retraining our employees is a critical part of our success. But building the workforce of the future isn’t something we can do alone, and that’s a message I want to make sure our political leaders understand.
As general manager of Toyota Bodine Aluminum here in Jackson, I know a company's workforce is the backbone of its success. More than half our employees are Skilled Team Members who build and repair the advanced tooling and equipment that we use to produce top-quality engine blocks. Each year, we sponsor a group of students to attend Jackson State Community College where they split their time working and studying to achieve an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree in Industrial Technology.
The Perfect Storm for the Manufacturing Workforce
If the manufacturing sector hopes to sustain its growth in the coming decade, it must come together to address three critical workforce challenges.
Just as American manufacturing seems to be hitting its stride, the sector now faces the perfect storm when it comes to finding and developing the workforce of the future:
- Baby boomers are retiring from all sectors at a rate of 10,000 a day in the United States, taking their institutional and technical knowledge with them into retirement.
- The number of American youth with sufficient STEM education for a shop floor or R&D department is inadequate – and those who do have these skills typically do not entertain manufacturing as a career option, often favoring the tech sector.
- In recent years, the opioid crisis has reached critical levels, and a new report by the MAPI Foundation shows an ominous geographic overlap between U.S. manufacturing-centric regions and opioid abuse.
Let’s take a closer look at why these factors threaten to undermine the healthy manufacturing resurgence unless measures are taken to manage them. Click here to read the full article>>
VOLKSWAGEN CHATTANOOGA COMMEMORATES 700,000TH PASSAT BUILD WITH LIMITED EDITION GT MODEL
May 8, 2018
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (8 May 2018) — Volkswagen Chattanooga today announced that it has achieved a production milestone with the completion of the 700,000th Volkswagen Passat assembled in Chattanooga.
Assembled in the LEED Platinum-certified production facility in Chattanooga Tennessee, the 700,000th Passat is a 2018 Passat GT, finished in Reflex Silver, with two-tone black and grey interior. The limited-edition model uses the 3.6-liter VR6® engine and a 6-speed DSG Tiptronic® dual-clutch automatic transmission.
“The history of Volkswagen Chattanooga is intertwined with the history of the U.S. Passat. As we grow and add models, we take pride in continuing to produce quality Passats in the state of Tennessee,” said Antonio Pinto, President and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga. “I am very proud of our team for reaching this important milestone and look forward to more to come.”
