A key Volkswagen supplier plans to seek city tax incentives to potentially build a $48 million expansion to one of its Chattanooga plants and hire 150 more workers to make parts for another automaker.
Gestamp, which provides stamped parts for VW’s Chattanooga assembly plant, wants to win business from the other auto company which makes vehicles in another state, said Corey Jahn, plant director for the company’s Hickory Valley Road plant.
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In partnership with Hamilton County Schools, Gestamp houses Tennessee’s first work-based learning program to earn a U.S. Department of Labor registered apprenticeship designation.
Jahn told city council members on Tuesday that the expansion would add about 125,000 square feet of space – if Gestamp is able to get the work. He said that the expansion wouldn’t be done if Gestamp doesn’t win the business and the company wouldn’t need the new payment-in-lieu-of-tax (PILOT) agreement with the city.
Jahn said the company, which has three plants in Chattanooga, should find out within about five months if it wins the work. He didn’t release the name of the other automaker.