A manufacturer of farm and commercial attachments for tractors is expanding to Cleveland, Tennessee, where plans are to create between 150 to 200 new jobs, a company official said Thursday.
Travis Crisp, general manager for IronCraft, said the company is expanding to a 26-acre site where it eventually will have about 500,000 square feet of space.
"It's a big deal for us," he said in a telephone interview.
The company, which already has locations nearby in Athens and Decatur, Tennessee, is leasing space with the intent to purchase, said Crisp.
"We're trying to expand to meet our demand," he said.
Doug Berry, the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce's vice president for economic development, said IronCraft is moving to a site that for many years held a Bendix manufacturing plant which was demolished about a decade ago at 3000 20th St.
Officials at IronCraft, which was formerly known at Titan Implement, developed a vision for the site and the expansion, he said.
"The timing worked out perfectly," Berry said in a phone interview. "They were confident to expand their market presence."
Crisp said IronCraft is aiming to put in more than $20 million in capital assets into the expansion.
He said the business hired its first new employee on Friday and will continue to build up its staff.
Crisp said the name change came after it was purchased by private equity group LFM Capital. He said the firm is "helping us grow to the next level."
In addition to the other two IronCraft locations in Southeast Tennessee, the firm has partner businesses in Washington state and North Carolina, Crisp said.
IronCraft Chief Executive Pat Kozlowski said the name change "will only reinvigorate our company's commitment to our dealers and to the craftsmanship of our products."
"We believe that by distinguishing our products andcompany at this time, there can be no confusion as to where our products come from and what we stand for," he said in a statement.
Berry said the expansion is a reflection of strong market conditions in Bradley.