Businesses Give Region an International Flavor
Published Feb 29, 2008
With a new facility in Rock Spring, Nissin Brake Georgia is in an expansion mode.
A drive around the Southeast Industrial Development Association region is a bit like a quick world tour.
Whether it’s U.S.-based companies preparing products for overseas distribution or foreign concerns operating an American facility, there’s a definite international flavor.
The list of such companies in the region is lengthy. More importantly, the variety of goods and services they produce bodes well as SEIDA and its partners look to play larger roles on the world stage.
“We are going to be more and more challenged to take our existing industries and keep them competitive in the global economy,” says Beth Jones, SEIDA executive director. “At the same time, we have to help enhance their business functions so they can expand and grow.”
In the tri-state area, there’s plenty of evidence that those efforts are proving to be successful.
In Etowah, Tenn., ThyssenKrupp Waupaca has broken ground on a $162 million expansion project. The German company, which opened its Tennessee plant in 2001, produces gray and ductile iron castings for automobiles.
Starplex Scientific Inc., a Canada-based maker of containers used in the health-care industry, has built a plant in Cleveland, Tenn. – on a 12-acre site designed for expansion.
The decision to expand to Tennessee was a result of Starplex Scientific President Fred Panini’s spotting a “Chattanooga Can Do” billboard while driving from Canada to Florida and then contacting local economic development authorities.
Japanese Influence
In Rock Spring, Ga., Nissin Brake Georgia’s recently completed 48,000-square-foot, $15 million expansion is visible proof of the company’s success. Since the beginning of 2007, Nissin has more than doubled its workforce to 160, with more to come as two new products begin to be manufactured, says Jim Owen, plant manager.
“The plan had always been to expand here, based on the business we obtain from some of the Southern automobile manufacturers,” Owen says. “They’ve been doing quite well, so we’ve had to expand our capacity to keep up with them. We’re now adding casting to our manufacturing capability, so we’ll be gaining quite a bit in production.”
Growth also is the order of the day at another Japanese-owned company, FujiFilm Hunt Chemicals USA Inc. in Dayton, Tenn. The company, which manufactures photographic chemicals for FujiFilm factories worldwide, has 86 employees and will be adding more in the coming months, according to John Sidenstick, manufacturing manager.
“We’re definitely part of the global organization,” Sidenstick says. “In addition to FujiFilm, we also do custom manufacturing for a wide range of companies.”
These successes and many more are all well and good, but an awareness of a 24/7 global manufacturing economy will be vital for any business in the region going forward, SEIDA’s Jones notes.
“The world really is flat,” she says. “People are being productive somewhere while we sleep, and we’re seeing that across all areas of business. It’s incumbent upon us to continue to change our thinking about how we compete for business locations and expansions.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Wes Aldridge
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