VW drives local factory rebound, name success

Chattanooga is where Little Debbie snacks were invented, Coca-Cola was first bottled and Olan Mills began what grew into America's biggest portrait studio business.

Made in ChattanoogaLittle Debbie: One of America's best-selling snack foods is made by the Collegedale-based McKee Foods Corp.Carpet manufacturing: Dalton, Ga., is home of the nation's biggest floorcovering companies, including Mohawk Industries, Shaw Industries and Beaulieu Carpets.Coca-Cola bottling: Chattanooga was home to the first franchised bottler of Coca-Cola under an 1899 contract that once gave three Chattanoogans exclusive bottling rights for the world's largest-selling soft drink.Astec Industries: The largest asphalt equipment maker was started by a former UTC engineering professor.Unum Corp: From its roots as Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co., Unum is the world's largest disability insurer.Miller Industries: The successor to the world's first wrecker company, Ernest Holmes, Miller Industries remains the largest wrecker manufacturer.Chattem: Originally named Chattanooga Medicine Co., the company's brand portfolio holds nearly two dozen brands including Gold Bond, Flexall, IcyHot, Bullfrog Sunblock, Sun-In, Pamprin, Dexatrim, Aspercreme and Selsun Blue.Olan Mills: Stamped on millions of family portraits, Olan Mills processes photographs at its Chattanooga headquarters from studios around the country.Chattanooga Choo-Choo: Popularized in song by Glenn Miller in 1942, the Choo-Choo was built into a hotel and convention resort on the site of the former Southern Railway terminal.Moonpies: Chattanooga Baking Co. makes the chocolate-coated and creme-filled graham cracker made famous by blue-collar workers who ate lunches of "an RC and a MoonPie."Major manufacturers located in the region* Alstom Power* BASF* GE Roper* La-Z-Boy* Lodge Manufacturing* Whirlpool* Wrigley

This year, the Scenic City adds another globally known name to its production plate when Volkswagen begins producing its new Passat at its only U.S. assembly plant at Enterprise South industrial park.

It's another feather in the cap of Chattanooga's rich manufacturing history. In a city billed as "the dynamo of Dixie" for the factories and foundries that sprang up following the end of the Civil War, VW is the latest and perhaps the most modern of the city's manufacturing legacies.

"Landing Volkswagen has certainly got the attention of the world," Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce President Tom Edd Wilson said.

The $1 billion automobile assembly plant represents the largest manufacturing investment in Chattanooga, and the more than 2,500 Volkswagen and related supplier jobs make the new factory one of the region's biggest job generators.

Although manufacturing employment in metropolitan Chattanooga dropped by more than one third in the past decade, the region is still home to some of America's best-known manufacturers, including General Electric, Whirlpool, Alstom Power, La-Z-Boy and Wrigley, among others. The Chattanooga region also is home to such companies as Unum Corp., the world's largest disability insurer; Mohawk and Shaw Industries, the nation's largest carpet manufacturers; Astec Industries, the largest maker of asphalt equipment, and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the state's largest health insurer.

Tim Spires, president of the nation's oldest local manufacturing trade group -- the Chattanooga Manufacturers Association -- said Volkswagen helps rebuild Chattanooga's manufacturing roots and adds a global nameplate to thousands of "Made in Chattanooga" products.

"It adds great credibility to our community and definitely sets the stage for others to come to this region," he said.

To view the entire edition of 2011 Volkswagen Unveiled Click Here.


Upcoming Events