Tennessee rated top automotive state for manufacturing
The $900 million addition of a second vehicle at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga assembly plant announced last year helped Tennessee accelerate past Alabama again to reclaim its crown as the top-rated state for automotive manufacturing strength, according to the editors of Business Facilities magazine.
In its annual ranking of U.S. states, the business publication ranked the Volunteer State No. 1 in automotive strength for the fifth time in the past six years. Only in 2014, when Alabama ranked No. 1 (not just in college football but in auto manufacturing) was Tennessee not judged to be the strongest in the recruitment and growth on automotive manufacturing.
“Tennessee has built an impressive Tier 1 supplier network around its automotive crown jewel, Volkswagen’s North American assembly plant in Chattanooga,” Business Facilities reports in its current issue.
VW, which recently outpaced Toyota as the world’s top-selling car brand, is adding a sports utility vehicle for the American market, scheduled to roll off the Chattanooga production line in time for the 2017 model year.
To support the 2,000-employee-expansion, automotive suppliers are planning nearly a quarter of a billion dollars of new facilities in and around Chattanooga to supply the VW plant.
Yanfeng Automotive Interiors, the world’s largest automotive interiors supplier, will invest $55 million to establish a new automotive manufacturing facility with 325 new jobs.
The global automotive parts manufacturer Gestamp has started a $180-million expansion creating 510 more jobs in Chattanooga. The company will grow its existing cold-stamping operation and add Class A stamping, hot-stamping and chassis component stamping to supply VW‘s new line.
“Good things are happening in Tennessee, and we appreciate Business Facilities for recognizing that,” Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said in a statement Thursday. “Thanks to the hard work of so many Tennesseans, we’ve become known around the world as a leading automobile manufacturing state, and through the Drive to 55, Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect initiatives, we’re becoming known as a state where employers can find the job skills they need no matter what the skill level may be.”
Business Facilities also ranked Tennessee No. 1 in education, thanks to its Tennessee Promise program providing free community college training for most high school graduates.
“Tennessee’s focus on aligning education and industry is the driving force behind our state’s ability to sufficiently train our workforce, maintain a steady pipeline of talent to support our existing businesses and recruit future employers,” Randy Boyd, commissioner of Tennessee’s Department of Economic and Community Development, said in a statement.
Overall, Tennessee ranked No. 2 for its business climate, behind only top-ranked Texas. Georgia ranked as the 8th best state overall for its business climate, according to Business Facilities.
“Texas has been a jobs-creating juggernaut for years, but our friends in the Lone Star State show no signs of slowing down,” BF Editor in Chief Jack Rogers said. “With forward-thinking investments like the new wind power grid in West Texas, what’s big in Texas will keep getting bigger.”