On Friday, Hardcoat Technologies LLC officials announced that the company will invest $6.6 million to expand manufacturing operations at its Papermill Drive location in Knoxville.
Hardcoat Technologies will invest nearly $7M to expand and locate manufacturing operations adjacent to its HQ and original injection molding plant on Papermill Drive in Knoxville.
Through the expansion, the company will create 85 new jobs in Knox County. https://t.co/f3AXOQLdOq pic.twitter.com/PwwqRLiNNp
— TNECD (@TNECD) October 21, 2022
Hardcoat Technologies was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Knoxville. The company specializes in injection molding and hard coating for automotive, ATV, and industrial applications.
As part of its expansion, Hardcoat Technologies will build a new 23,500-square-foot facility on Papermill Drive and acquire and renovate an existing building, according to a press release by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD). Once completed, both operations will support Hardcoat Technologies’ recent contract with SL Tennessee and will more than double the company’s injection molding, warehousing, and assembly capabilities, TNECD notes.
“Hardcoat Technologies has seen amazing growth in our business since our start in 2014,” Nicholas Steffens, Hardcoat Technologies LLC President said in a statement. “We look forward to the additional opportunities this building expansion will bring. We appreciate the continued support of our state and local partners.”
As a result of the company’s new expansion project, 85 new jobs are expected to be created in Knox County, bringing the total number of people employed by Hardcoat Technologies in the Volunteer State to roughly 130, according to TNECD.
“Our state’s strong business climate and highly skilled workforce continue to set Tennessee’s businesses up for success,” Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said in a statement. “I thank Hardcoat Technologies for its decision to expand in Knoxville and create 85 new jobs for Tennesseans.”
TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter noted that Hardcoat Technologies’ expansion “reaffirms that Tennessee’s business-friendly atmosphere and highly qualified workforce lead the nation in attracting new jobs and investment to this state” due to the company’s decision to stay and expand in Knox County instead of choosing a different location out of state.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Hardcoat Technologies LLC” by Nicholas Steffens.
Does this expansion cost us taxpayers anything? Probably.
They should insist that the next contractor that installs a sign use their product, it really is exceptional.