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Knoxville company building $12 million plant in Hardin Valley

Posted at 1:26 am December 17, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

peter-hedger-magnum-venus-products

Pictured above is Peter Hedger, chief executive officer of Magnum Venus Products, which is building a $12 million plant in Hardin Valley. (Submitted photo)

 

A Knoxville manufacturing company announced Thursday that it will build a $12 million plant in Hardin Valley that will create about 70 new jobs during the next five years.

The new Magnum Venus Products, or MVP, plant will be in the Hardin Business Park off Hardin Valley Road in west Knox County. Among other things, MVP makes high-tech pumps and works in the composites industry.

Construction of the new 80,000-square-foot plant will occur in two phases. The first 40,000-square-foot expansion phase will be completed next year, a press release said. The second phase of the expansion will add another 40,000 square feet.

Magnum Venus Products plans to occupy the new facility in the second half of 2017. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Knox County, Slider Tagged With: composites equipment, composites industry, Hardin Business Park, Hardin Valley, Hedger family, high-tech pumps, Knoxville Chamber, Lenoir City Utilities Board, Magnum Venus Products, MVP, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Peter Hedger, Randy Boyd, Roger Osborne, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, Tennessee Valley Authority, The Development Corporation of Knox County, Tim Burchett

LeMond Composites to make carbon fiber, composite bicycles—invest $125 million, create 242 jobs

Posted at 8:32 pm October 13, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

lemond-composites-greg-lemond-2-oct-12-2016-web

Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France champion, celebrated the opening of LeMond Composites, a new company he co-founded, during a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 12, 2016, at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The company is expected to make composite bicycles and carbon fiber, and invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new company co-founded by Greg LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, will make composite bicycles and carbon fiber for other products in Oak Ridge, and the business, called LeMond Composites, will invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs, officials said during a Wednesday afternoon ceremony.

Among the officials celebrating the opening on Wednesday were LeMond, and Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd.

Carbon fiber has advantageous properties, but cost has been a barrier to using it, said Connie Jackson, chief executive officer of LeMond Composites. She said the manufacturing process has been changed to reduce production cost.

“We have overcome a significant part of the cost barrier,” Jackson said.

Carbon fiber is light, stiff, and strong, making it the perfect material for advanced composites in a variety of applications. It can be used to improve efficiency, save energy, and build or repair vehicles and planes, wind turbines and containers, and bridges and tunnels. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Recreation, Roane County, Roane County, Slider, Sports, State, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: advanced manufacturing, Bill Haslam, carbon fiber, Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, Connie Jackson, Greg LeMond, Heritage Center, John Bradley, LeMond Companies, LeMond Composites, Nicolas Wegener, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Electric Department, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Randy Boyd, Roane Alliance, Roane County, Roane State Community College, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, Tennessee Valley Authority, Thomas Zacharia, Tour de France, TVA, U.S. Department of Energy, vehicle technologies

CVMR still hopes to build $300M metal refinery, but R&D center on hold

Posted at 3:41 pm December 4, 2015
By John Huotari 8 Comments

Michael Hargett and Kamran Khoza of CVMR USA

CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday, March 13, 2015, to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 7:05 p.m.

Seeking to clarify its plans, CVMR on Friday said it still hopes to build a metal refining facility in Oak Ridge to produce metal powders and “nano materials.” That investment, to be completed in three phases, could cost more than $300 million in the first phase and eventually employ 1,200 to 1,500 engineers and technicians, the company said Friday.

But they will not establish a Center of Excellence focused on research and development of the application of vapor metallurgy technology to an expanding group of elements, CVMR said in a Friday letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.

The company sought to publicly clarify its position after news stories this week suggested that the CVMR deal was dead. Some officials and developers had pushed back after those stories appeared in several Knoxville media outlets, saying they remained “cautiously optimistic” that the company could still come to Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Oak Ridge, Roane County, Slider Tagged With: Center of Excellence, City of Oak Ridge, Clint Brewer, CVMR, CVMR USA, Kamran Khozan, Mark Watson, metal refinery, metal refining, Michael Hargett, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Parker Hardy, Randy Boyd, Ron Woody, Steve Jones, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, The Roane Alliance, University of Tennessee, Wade Creswell

Metal powder manufacturing company investing $313 million in Oak Ridge, adding 620 jobs

Posted at 2:44 pm March 13, 2015
By John Huotari 11 Comments

Michael Hargett and Kamran Khoza of CVMR USA

CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12 a.m.

A company that manufactures high-purity metal powders and super alloys is moving its operations to Oak Ridge from Toronto, Canada, and investing $313 million here and creating 620 jobs, officials said Friday.

CVMR, which has operations in 18 countries, will use the former Theragenics building at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge for its headquarters and research and development. The company closed on that building, which is on 21 acres, on Friday, but executives declined to disclose the sale price.

The first employee was hired Thursday, said Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer of CVMR (USA) Incorporated.

The company could expand that 65,000-square-foot building; infrastructure that is already in place allows it to be doubled. The company could put 218 people to work right away in its new headquarters and add 402 high-paying manufacturing jobs later, a state official said.

“I can promise you that this is the start of a wave,” said Randy Boyd, the new commissioner of Tennessee Economic and Community Development. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, College, Education, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Roane County, Slider, State, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: 3D printing, Adam Creswell, alloys, Bill Haslam, Centre of Excellence for Innovation in Powder Metallurgy, Chuck Fleischmann, CVMR, CVMR USA, CVMR USA Inc., graphene, headquarters, Heritage Center, Horizon Center, John Bradley, K-25, Kamran Khozan, metal powders, Michael Hargett, NASA, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ore concentrates, ores, ORNL, powder metallurgy, Randy Boyd, research and development, Roane County, Ron Woody, Steve Jones, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, Theragenics, Theragenics building, Thom Mason, Tom Rogers, TVA, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Tennessee, Warren Gooch

Gov. Haslam, state to make ‘significant’ economic announcement in OR Friday

Posted at 1:41 pm March 12, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 2 Comments

Bill Haslam during Presidential Visit at Pellissippi State

Governor Bill Haslam is pictured above during a visit by President Barack Obama at Pellissippi State Community College on Friday, January 9. (File photo by Rob Welton)

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and the state will make a significant economic development announcement in Oak Ridge on Friday afternoon, officials said.

The announcement—which will also include other federal, state, and local officials—is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, March 13, at the former Theragenics Building at Horizon Center.

Details of the announcement have not been released. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Bill Haslam, economic development, Oak Ridge, Palladium Way, Randy Boyd, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, Theragenics, uranium processing facility, Y-12 National Security Complex

AC Chamber Council starts discussions on educational resources, workforce needs

Posted at 6:39 pm October 29, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Randy Boyd

Randy Boyd

Submitted

CLINTON—Leaders from business, local, and post-secondary education across Anderson County gathered at the Hollingsworth Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership on Tuesday for an Anderson County Workforce Development Training Resources Luncheon hosted by the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Education and Workforce Development Council. The council plans for this to be the first of a series of in-depth county-wide discussions about how to ensure that our educational resources are focused at meeting the businesses workforce needs in Anderson County.

Randy Boyd, Governor Bill Haslam’s special adviser on higher education, spoke about Tennessee’s “Drive to 55” initiative and the five main aspects to this statewide initiative: get students ready, get them into school, get them out of school, finish what we started with adult students, and tie education directly to workforce needs.

“There are nearly a million Tennesseans that have some college credit but no degree—that’s an untapped pool of people that we can get to complete a certificate or degree,” Boyd said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Business, Front Page News Tagged With: Anderson County Chamber of Commerce, Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Education and Workforce Development Council, Anderson County Schools, Anderson County Workforce Development Training Resources Luncheon, Bill Haslam, business workforce, Chip Reed, Chris Tiller, Chris Whaley, college degree, community college, Drive to 55, Dwight Murphy, East Tennessee Human Resource Agency, education, Gary Human, GEAR UP, higher education, Hollingsworth Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Hoppy Merryman, job creation tax credits, Junior Achievement, Larry Foster, mentor, Pam Wilson, Pellissippi State Community College, Randy Boyd, Roane State Community College, Tennessee College of Applied Technology, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, Tennessee Promise, Teri Brahams, workforce, workforce development

Oliver Springs, Rocky Top receive grants for water, sewer system improvements

Posted at 3:11 pm October 5, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 2 Comments

Governor Bill Haslam

Bill Haslam

State officials announce 80 Community Development Block Grants

Oliver Springs received a $525,000 grant for sewer system improvements, and Rocky Top (formerly Lake City) received a $360,840 grant for water system improvements, Tennessee officials announced last week.

Oliver Springs and Rocky Top were among the Tennessee communities that will receive funding after Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty approved more than $28 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to help with infrastructure, health and safety projects, and downtown improvements, a press release said.

The Oliver Springs grant will be matched with $225,000 in local funding (for $750,000 in total funding), and the Rocky Top grant will be matched with $27,160 in local funding for a total of $388,000. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, Lake City, Oliver Springs, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Bill Haslam, CDBG, Community Development Block Grant, funding, grant, infrastructure, jobs, Lake City, Oliver Springs, Rocky Top, sewer system, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, TNECD, water

SL Tennessee expansion could be largest in industrial employment since World War II

Posted at 9:43 pm July 25, 2014
By John Huotari 1 Comment

SL Tennessee Expansion Media Availability

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, center, announces 1,000 new jobs as part of an $80.5 million expansion at auto parts manufacturer SL Tennessee in Clinton. Also pictured from left are Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Clinton Mayor Scott Burton, and U.S. Senator Bob Corker.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:30 a.m. July 26.

CLINTON—The 1,000 new jobs announced at SL Tennessee in Clinton on Friday could be the largest expansion of industrial employment in Anderson County since World War II, officials said.

SL Tennessee, an auto parts manufacturer, plans to invest $80.5 million to build a 250,000-square-foot plant on Frank L. Diggs Drive in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park. It will be SL Tennessee’s LLC third building in the park, and the company’s fifth expansion since locating in Clinton in 2001. The new building will manufacture automobile head lights and tail lamps for General Motors.

The jobs announcement was made in the South Korean company’s Chassis Plant on Friday near workers assembling gear shifters and brake assemblies, mostly for GM. Marking the importance of the announcement, Gov. Bill Haslam was invited to speak and so were U.S. senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander and Rep. Chuck Fleischmann.

“This is obviously a big day,” said Haslam, who announced the new jobs. “It shows our growth in the automotive business.”

It’s the second announcement of more than 1,000 jobs at an automotive plant in East Tennessee in the past two weeks. Last week, Volkswagen announced a $600 million investment and 2,000 new jobs in Chattanooga. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Business, Business, Clinton, Clinton, Government, Slider, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Aisin Automotive Casting Tennessee, Anderson County, auto parts manufacturer, Bill Hagerty, Bill Haslam, Bob Corker, Chuck Fleischmann, Clinton I-75 Industrial Park, expansion, Frank L. Diggs Drive, General Motors, head lights, industrial employment, jobs, John Bradley, Lamar Alexander, Mike Stringfield, Ricky Bean, Scott Burton, SL America, SL Corporation, SL Tennessee, SL Tennessee LLC, tail lamps, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, Tennessee Valley Authority, Terry Frank, TVA, Volkswagen, World War II, Y-12, Y.K. Woo

State comptroller approves $13 million agreement for Oak Ridge Mall

Posted at 4:43 pm February 8, 2014
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Oak Ridge Mall

The Tennessee Comptroller has approved the use of a $13 million tax financing agreement that could be used for the $85 million redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall. The L-shaped mall is pictured at center above.

The Tennessee Comptroller has approved a $13 million tax financing agreement that could be used for the $85 million redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall.

The approval was announced in a Wednesday letter from Tennessee Comptroller Justin P. Wilson to Nashville law firm Bradley, Arant, Boult, and Cummings, which is working with Crosland Southeast, the North Carolina company that wants to redevelop the mostly empty mall.

The 20-year tax increment financing, or TIF, agreement, would use new property tax revenues generated at the 59-acre site to help pay for development costs, possibly including tearing down the existing space between the two remaining anchor stores, JCPenney and Belk, as well as for replacing aging infrastructure and building new roads. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Government, Oak Ridge, Slider, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Commission, Belk, Bradley Arant Boult and Cummings, Clint Brewer, comptroller, Crosland Southeast, ECD, IDB, JCPenney, Justin P. Wilson, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, Oak Ridge Mall, property tax revenues, redevelopment, retail sales, sales tax revenues, tax financing, tax increment, tax increment financing, Tennessee Comptroller, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, TIF, Tim Sittema

Tennessee named ‘2013 State of the Year’ for economic development

Posted at 12:01 pm January 14, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Governor Bill Haslam

Bill Haslam

Business Facilities magazine cites diverse top projects in award

NASHVILLE—Tennessee is the “2013 State of the Year,” according to Business Facilities magazine, a national economic development publication.

Tennessee’s top five economic development projects created a total of 6,900 jobs and $3.2 billion in capital investment, and they included seven expansions and three new recruitments. The magazine picked the state after evaluating the top five projects for the number of jobs created and amount of capital invested from Oct. 1, 2012, through Oct. 31, 2013.

“A lot of hard work goes into keeping Tennessee competitive, and I want to thank Business Facilities for recognizing the efforts of so many people across the state,” Gov. Bill Haslam said. “We understand that jobs are created when someone is willing to risk capital, and we will continue working to make Tennessee a great place to invest.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News Tagged With: 2013 State of the Year, Alcoa, ARAMARK, Bill Hagerty, Bill Haslam, Business Facilities, Calsonic Kansei North America, capital investment, Eastman Chemical, economic development, Hankook Tire Co., International Paper, Jack Rogers, jobs, Nike, Nissan North America, Tennessee, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, UBS

New Nashville center for financial services firm UBS to add 1,000 jobs

Posted at 12:30 pm August 28, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Tennessee and Nashville officials announced Wednesday that UBS, a global financial services firm, will establish a shared services center in Nashville, adding 1,000 jobs. It’s a $36.5 million investment, officials said.

UBS currently provides operations support in Nashville through more than 200 employees and has a full-service wealth management office, a press release said. The new UBS Nashville Business Solutions Center will offer expanded business services in support of their wealth management and investment banking divisions. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Government, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Bill Hagerty, Bill Haslam, financial services, Karl Dean, Kathleen Lynch, Nashville, shared services center, Tennessee Economic and Community Development, UBS, UBS Group Americas and Wealth Management Americas, UBS Nashville Business Solutions Center, wealth management

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

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