Volkswagen to build $1 billion Chattanooga plant

07/30/2008

By Candy McCampbell

Volkswagen announced in July that it plans to build a $1 billion assembly plant near Chattanooga, Tenn. The plant will employ 2,000 workers to produce 150,000 mid-size cars beginning in 2011.

It could employ another 2,000 during construction of the plant, which will be located on 1,350 acres in Enterprise South Industrial Park about 12 mi northeast of Chattanooga.

Before the announcement was made, three area contractors, as well as city and county crews, were already clearing and leveling the land, says Roger Tuder, president of the Associated General Contractors of East Tennessee.

Volkswagen has not yet named a construction manager or general contractor but “will be moving quickly in the next few weeks to finalize plans related to construction of the plant,” says Jill Bratina, VW spokeswoman.

Though it is still early in the process, “when you think about the building, the foundation, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, installing light fixtures … I would say there will be hundreds of contractors working on that job,” Tuder says.

“We’ve got a highly skilled workforce,” one that has built the Sequoyah and Watts Bar nuclear power plants for the Tennessee Valley Authority, he adds.

State officials have not given a total breakdown of taxpayer-funded infrastructure work, but say they have spent $1.8 million on grading.

The industrial park, previously home to an Army ammunition plant, is near Interstate 75, within about a mile of an interchange, Tuder says. The plant site is also served by two rail spurs, and the Hamilton County Railroad Authority has a $400,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to upgrade 20 mi of track.

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