New developments hold promise of more jobs
This 126,800-square-foot building nearing completion in the David Jones Industrial Park off U.S. 441 in Andersonville is looking for a tenant. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The Hollingsworth Companies is building a 126,800-square-foot shell building in the industrial park on Mountain Road, off U.S. 441 (Norris Freeway), which is nearing completion, said Andy Wallace, president of the Anderson County Economic Development Agency.
In addition, Anderson County has begun efforts to create a “pad-ready” industrial site of about 30 acres just behind the Hollingsworth project on First Quality Drive, using grant money of $1 million from the state of Tennessee and $250,000 from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Wallace said.
That acreage has been owned by Anderson County “for a long time,” he said.
“I wrote a grant application to get some money to get started developing it,” Wallace said. “We have someone who is interested in it, but we have no firm commitment yet. We are getting environmental studies done, and we will get it pad ready if we don’t have a client.
“We’re hoping to have it ready by late fall,” he said. “But we won’t go to bid until we know what’s going in there.”
The David Jones Industrial Park has been in existence since the early 1990s, and includes several thriving industrial businesses, including a giant Clayton Homes factory that turns out double-wide mobile homes and offices.
Hollingsworth’s speculative building sits next to the Mlily USA location. A sign in front of the steel building says it’s for sale or lease, and sits on 12.9 acres. It also says that the building would be expandable to 171,600 square feet.
“We’ve had some inquiries about the spec building by Joe Hollingsworth, and they have had some inquiries,” Wallace said.
“We are excited and happy to have Joe Hollingworth in Clinton, Tennessee,” Wallace said. “He has done over a dozen industrial buildings in Anderson County so far.”
Meanwhile, Aisin Automotive Casting, a Japanese company that has operated a manufacturing plant in the Clinton I-75 Industrial Park since 2004, has obtained a building permit from the city of Clinton for a $2.4 million “industrial interior renovation” for its 524,000-square-foot facility at 221 Frank L. Diggs Drive.
The company “produces high-quality, functional engine components for some of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world, including Toyota, General Motors, Nissan, and Honda,” according to its website. “Some of our key processes include high-pressure die casting, gravity casting, machining, and assembly.”
The website says the Clinton plant has “580 full-time employees.”
Inquiries to the plant about the renovation project were not immediately answered, and Wallace said he was not aware of the company’s plans.