Hamilton County adds companies, jobs

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Amazon became the latest well-known company to locate in Chattanooga's Enterprise South industrial park.

Amazon announced that it is building two fulfillment centers in Tennessee, one at Enterprise South and the other along Lauderdale Memorial Highway near Cleveland, Tenn., in Bradley County.

Amazon plans to invest up to $139 million to construct the two new facilities, with up to 1,400 full-time jobs expected to be created in the next three years in addition to hundreds of seasonal jobs. The new fulfillment centers are to be open before the 2011 holiday season.

The following were among other companies that landed here last year.

* IBI Power, a custom power packaging and integration solutions provider headquartered in Caldwell, Idaho, unveiled plans to locate in Chattanooga. The expansion represents an investment of $5 million and will create at least 60 new jobs.

* Volkswagen announced suppliers for its supplier park: Chattanooga Seating, front and rear seats, 140 jobs; Faurecia, front and rear exhaust system, 35 jobs; Magna Exteriors & Interiors, front and rear fascia, 25 jobs; MTEK, headliners and door panels, 40 jobs; Thyssen Krupp, front and rear axle, corner module, 90 jobs; Wingard Quality Supply, 25 jobs; Ceva, logistics, 140 jobs; Draexlmaier, wire harnesses, 25 jobs.

The supplier park was developed by VW with a $21 million loan from Bank of America.

* Southern Tool Steel Inc., Chattanooga-owned distributor of metals and plastics, announced a $1.7 million expansion.