Volkswagen supplier Chattanooga Seating Systems, revving up production related to the German automaker’s new sport utility vehicle, will expand its existing facility and create 190 new jobs.
Located in the supplier park next to VW’s Chattanooga assembly plant, the company will more than double its existing employee headcount of 148 full-time workers, officials said Wednesday.
“We’re very excited about it,” said David Higgs, Chattanooga Seating’s general manager. “We’re excited for VW.”
The company, a joint venture of Magna Seating and Hollingsworth Logistics, plans to invest $5.4 million in new equipment making and assembling vehicle seats.
Scott Worden of Magna Seating said the facility is taking on more space to make room for the equipment. Chattanooga Seating is adding to its footprint by utilizing an unoccupied building near its current facility.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said the company was one of the first tier one suppliers to locate in the city after VW’s original announcement it would build a production plant in Tennessee in 2008.
“With this expansion, they will more than double their workforce over the next five years and create good, middle-class jobs for more Chattanoogans,” he said.
Hiring is expected to begin in September, according to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. An ECD spokeswoman said information about possible incentives for the company hasn’t been made public yet.
The VW plant at Enterprise South industrial park is ramping up its employment as well.
Aerotek, a staffing contractor for Volkswagen in Chattanooga, said recently it plans to hire about 25 people weekly over the next couple of months and 700 employees by year’s end.
VW plans to start production of the new midsize SUV by the end of 2016 with the seven-seater hitting dealerships early next year. VW has been expanding the plant, spending $900 million overall and $600 million in Tennessee, to ready the Chattanooga facility to produce the vehicle in addition to the Passat sedan.
Chattanooga Seating is 51 percent held by Michigan-based Hollingsworth, which is a Native American-certified minority business. Magna Seating is part of Magna International, a global auto supplier headquartered in Ontario, Canada.
Hollingsworth CEO Stephen Barr and his family purchased E.L. Hollingsworth in 1987.
“On this expansion project we have been fortunate to work with many talented and committed people at the state and local level who understand our business and help achieve common goals,” he said in a statement.
Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger termed Chattanooga Seating “an important supplier for VW.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said that when companies like Chattanooga Seating choose to expand their existing businesses here, “it speaks to our business-friendly climate and continues to establish Tennessee as a worldwide leader in the automotive sector.”
Randy Boyd, who heads ECD, said more than 120,000 Tennesseans work at 930 plants across Tennessee – the highest number for any state in the South. Last year, Volkswagen, Nissan and General Motors manufactured 735,511 cars, light trucks and SUVs in Tennessee.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.