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 Heritage 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…]
