Governor Bill Lee, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), and Parkway Products, LLC, announced this week the company would be investing $5.7 million to expand existing operations in Greenville, Tennessee. The company estimated an additional 160 jobs will be created over the next five years at the injection molding site.
“Thank you to Parkway Products for creating 160 new high-quality manufacturing jobs in Greeneville,” Governor Bill Lee said about the expansion. “Tennessee’s advanced manufacturing job creation far exceeds national growth with employment concentration more than 30% higher than the national average. We look forward to seeing how the residents of Greene County will benefit from this new investment.”
The statement from the TNECD said the expansion would “allow the company to add several lines and assist in the purchase and installation of new assets, tooling costs, and space.”
The company is currently “a leader in six niche injection mold processes and has an extensive history and expertise in the aerospace and electronics, agriculture, off-road truck, automotive, healthcare, industrial and infrastructure markets.”
Injection molding is a process that allows either a plastic or a resin to be made into the desired shape. It has the advantage of accuracy, productivity when compared to any other processing way. It is used mostly for high-volume production of injection molded parts, but contributes a lot to production efficiency and makes low-cost production realistic.
Parkway said on their website they use thermoplastic with their injection molding in order to “meet the needs” of each market they serve. They explained the benefits of the thermoplastic as low labor costs, fast productions with high volume capability, design, material, and color flexibility; and multiple thermoplastic capabilities.
Parkway Products CEO Andrew Green said:
We are excited to invest in Greene County, Tennessee because of the strong growth we have seen in our loyal customer base of equipment manufacturers, the productivity and commitment of a terrific team of Parkway associates in Greeneville, and the support of local government that respects the contributions made by Parkway and the industrial supply chain to the local economy. We see Greene Country as a great place to grow and will continue to strive to make Parkway Products an employer of choice for more people in Greeneville.
While the TNECD did not say if they would assist in funding for the expansion, they were credited in the statement for “[supporting] more than 40 economic development projects in Northeast Tennessee resulting in roughly 3,600 job commitments and $1 billion in capital investment” within the last five years.
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Morgan Nicole Veysey is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development is nothing more than a taxpayer funded slush fund for crony capitalism. The legislature should end it, but of course that will not happen.