CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The president of custom sandwich-maker SK Food Group on Tuesday officially gave a green light to building a more than half-million-square-foot plant in what will be the city’s biggest-ever single industrial project.
The $205 million factory at the Spring Branch Industrial Park will spur 840 jobs over seven years, company President Dustin Dixon said to about 75 people who turned out at the construction site.
The project will create the largest single number of jobs for a new company in the Chattanooga area since Volkswagen more than decade ago when the German automaker announced it planned to hire 2,000 employees.
“We’re the leading manufacturer of custom, hand-held items in the U.S.,” Dixon said, standing in front of a large sign featuring a rendering of the huge plant that’s to start operations in the first half of 2025.
Dixon cited Bradley County’s Pie Innovation Center, the workforce development facility where build-out will begin soon on space to help train future SK Food workers. The center’s name is an acronym for partners in industry and education.