Setting the Industry Standard
Coffee County park attracts new jobs to the county

The flags fluttering outside Fischer USA, an international producer of stainless steel tubing, are an indicator of the global impact of the Coffee County Industrial Park.

Over the last five years, the 795-acre Coffee County Industrial Park has more than doubled, with 17 industries and approximately 1,200 jobs now located within its boundaries.

And that, according to Ted Hackney, executive director of the Industrial Board of Coffee County, is the name of the game.

"The end result of all of this is job creation," Hackney points out.

Ten industries have located at the site since 1995, even though industries looking at the park usually have a long list of criteria.

"We looked at several different properties," says Don Gehler, program director for TRW Kansei Electronics, which moved to the Coffee County Industrial Park in September 1999.

"When we came to Coffee County, the board met with us, took us to lunch, showed us the site. In two hours, they gave us the royal treatment. When I came back with the Japanese, they did the same thing. And I have to tell you this was instrumental in making our decision. They treated us like they really wanted us here."

The cost and location of the Coffee County property also were selling points for officials at TRW Kansei, which makes electronic sensors for Nissan Manufacturing in Smyrna.

"And, we had excellent support from power and gas companies, and from local contractors," Gehler adds.

The park is located along Interstate 24 and has two exits with convenient access: exits 114 and 117. Land costs in the park are about $7,500 an acre, Hackney says.

But its not just business newcomers that are finding success in Manchester.

PCA Apparel Industries Inc. was established in Manchester in 1936 and is its oldest existing industry. PCA employs about 250 workers here today, says Randy Buckner, vice president of operations for the major manufacturer of mens and childrens sleepwear and active wear apparel.

PCA Transportation is also located in Manchester. It provides transportation services between PCAs Manchester facilities and Miami for its manufacturing plants in the Dominican Republic.

PCA competes successfully in the global economy by utilizing some of the latest computer technologies in creating, manufacturing and shipping its finished products.

Jim DeAugustinis, general manager of VIAM Manufacturing, makers of carpeted floor mats and trunk liners, said his company, which had its grand opening in June 1999, had looked at six or seven different states and many cities within each state before choosing Coffee County. His criteria included land costs, labor rates and tax structure.

"The logistics of this site being so close to I-24 was great for us," DeAugustinis says.

"Manchester and the county industrial board have been great. The community itself has been very hospitable."

Created in 1977, the Coffee County Industrial Park saw its first inhabitant in 1980 with Acme Mechanical Products. In the late 1980s the board began an aggressive and ambitious recruiting program looking to the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association and the state Department of Economic and Community Development for their share of industry. "We also began building spec buildings, which we sell at cost," Hackney says. "This really gives businesses a jump-start on construction. Each one we have built has been about 60,000-70,000 square feet."

Hackney says funds limit them from building more than one building at a time before selling it. Ground was broken on the seventh spec building in early June.

The countys total investment in the park has been about $3 million. Hackney says all money received from the sale of land or the spec buildings goes right back into improvements. The industrial boards annual budget is about $130,000.

by Pam Sherborne
Photo by David Mudd