Gestamp in Chattanooga
› Current plant: 238,991 square feet; cold and hot stamping, spot welding assembly› Jersey Pike site: Existing 293,907 square feet; chassis production› Planned VW location: 180,000 square feet; stampingSource: Gestamp, Hamilton County
Spanish automotive supplier Gestamp has bought the vacant Farley’s & Sathers candy plant in Chattanooga where it will put chassis production for Volkswagen’s planned new SUV.
The move will give Gestamp three production plants in Chattanooga as it tweaks its $180 million expansion plan unveiled earlier this summer.
The supplier will build chassis in the revamped Jersey Pike facility rather than add that production to its existing plant on Hickory Valley Road, said company spokesman Miguel Lopez-Quesada.
The company still intends to add to the existing plant, where it makes stamped parts, and raise another stamping facility next to VW’s assembly site at Enterprise South industrial park, Lopez-Quesada said.
Also, Gestamp still intends to hire about 510 employees at its Chattanooga locations over the next couple of years, he said.
“The new jobs are linked to existing projects,” the spokesman said in an email. “Should we get new assignments from customers, then we could consider additional jobs but that’s not the case today. Same for the investments. This was part of the plan so no additional investment.”
Gestamp’s $180 million investment announced in June already is the biggest ever for an automotive supplier in Hamilton County.
Gestamp paid $4.25 million for the 29-acre tract at 4120 Jersey Pike, buying it from Ferrara Candy Co., the owner of Farley’s & Sathers. Illinois-based Ferrara shut down the location last year and laid off its remaining staff.
The closing spelled the end of a company linking back to Brock Candy Co., and 108 years of candy production in Chattanooga.
The Jersey Pike plant, which has 293,000 square feet, was bought in 2007 by Farley’s & Sathers for $5.5 million.
President and CEO of Gestamp, Francisco J. Riberas, second from left, talks with Gov. Bill Haslam, left, Gestamp North America President and CEO Jeff Wilson, second from right, and Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger after a news conference.Lopez-Quesada said work has already started at the Jersey Pike facility.
When Gestamp announced the expansion, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said the plant addition helps fulfill the dream of making Chattanooga a major auto manufacturer and supplier hub.
“You’re starting to see the blocks of that come together,” he said.
Gestamp Chief Executive Francisco Riberas said that the supplier was a pioneer when it joined VW in Chattanooga. It started operating the plant in 2009 that employs nearly 300 people.
Riberas said the planned SUV prompted Gestamp to move ahead with the expansion that will about triple its footprint in the city.
Next to Volkswagen’s plant, heavy equipment has begun clearing a 60-acre site where Gestamp will build a 180,000-square-foot facility.
The automaker gave up the property for the Gestamp plant and is talking with city and county officials about swapping for land of similar value.
VW is spending $900 million to expand its Chattanooga plant and build the new midsize SUV starting late next year. Volkswagen also is hiring 2,000 more workers.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.