North Chattanooga resident and Global Green Lighting CEO Don Lepard is expanding his Soddy-Daisy manufacturing facility following the recent approval of a Community Development Block Grant awarded by the federal government as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
North Chattanooga resident and Global Green Lighting CEO Don Lepard speaks to a crowd at a meeting of the North Chattanooga Chamber Council. The recent approval of a federal rural development grant will fund the expansion of Lepard’s Soddy-Daisy manufacturing assembly, where he will add 30-60 jobs in June.Applied for through the city of Soddy-Daisy eight months ago, the $532,000 rural development grant will purchase new assembly and service mount equipment scheduled to arrive at the facility in Soddy-Daisy Industrial Park within six to eight weeks, said Lepard.
GGL recently entered into a contract with the city of Chattanooga to produce $6 million worth of remote-controlled LED lighting for the city, which will be assembled in Soddy-Daisy. Lights previously produced by GGL installed on Frazier Avenue and the Walnut Street Bridge were also manufactured at the Soddy-Daisy facility, said Lepard.
In addition to expanding the manufacturing operation in Soddy-Daisy, the company is also establishing a corporate headquarters in Chattanooga on Riverfront Parkway.
Over the next 24 months, Lepard said he will be adding 250 jobs between the Soddy-Daisy and Chattanooga facilities.