Dwight BryantA Whitwell, Tenn., native who now runs a business in Virginia has plans to return home, start two companies and hire about 100 workers.
“It feels great to come back,” said Dwight Bryant, owner of Innovated Machine & Tool Co., a metal fabrication business in Newport News, Va.
Bryant said he’s finalizing plans to buy a 17-acre tract off Highway 28 in Whitwell where he’d put the two new businesses and invest about $7 million to $10 million.
One company, Innovated South, would be modeled after the Virginia venture, which he said employs more than 50 people fabricating metal for refrigerated cabinets for grocery stores and the electrical power distribution sector.
“This year, we’ll spend about $2 million in new equipment trying to keep up with demand,” Bryant said about the company started more than three decades ago.