4 Manufacturing Businesses That are Booming in Chattanooga

Amaero International

On any given day, production facilities in Greater Chattanooga are rolling out energy-efficient automobiles, innovative household appliances and food products that feed people across the country. It’s the region’s impressive business climate that keeps the supply chain steady.

“Chattanooga’s manufacturing sector is strengthened by our strong workforce, pro-business environment and logistical network, which allows businesses to take advantage of one-day shipping to one-third of the U.S. consumer markets,” says Adam Myers, vice president for economic and talent development for the Greater Chattanooga Economic Partnership.

Manufacturers in Greater Chattanooga are responsible for creating 90,479 jobs and employing 20% of the region’s workforce. Those numbers only continue to grow as more businesses expand their presence in the area. Here are a few of the most recent investments by manufacturers:

Amaero

Amaero is investing $54.9 million to establish its flagship advanced manufacturing, research and development facility, and global headquarters in Cleveland, Tennessee.

The 130,000-square-foot facility is Australia-based Amaero’s first U.S. location, and the site is expected to create 105 new jobs.

Amaero uses cutting-edge technologies to produce refractory metals and specialty alloy powders. The company serves aerospace and defense prime contractors as well as medical and industrial companies.

Kordsa

In 2023, Kordsa announced the expansion of its Chattanooga facility, where it is investing $50 million and creating an additional 200 jobs. The expansion will increase the company’s capacity to convert its products into tire cord fabric for use by tire manufacturers.

Kordsa Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Kordsa, develops environmentally friendly products in the tire industry that reduce fuel consumption and provide better-wet traction. Additionally, the company develops technologies that allow for lighter, more efficient cars and lower carbon emissions in the composite industry.

Qcells

Qcells, a leading provider of clean energy solutions, expanded its solar panel factory in Dalton, Georgia, and created 510 new jobs. The project completed the first phase of the company’s $2.5 billion investment.

The expansion added 2 gigawatts (Gw) of solar capacity to Dalton, bringing the factory’s output to more than 5.1 Gw. Qcells’ Dalton factory will eventually manufacture nearly 30,000 solar panels per day.

The Dalton facility is the largest manufacturing plant of its kind in the Western hemisphere and the first solar panel plant expansion since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

SK Food Group

Custom sandwich maker SK Food Group is investing $205 million to build a more than half-million-square-foot facility in Cleveland. The investment, the city’s largest single industrial project, is expected to generate 840 jobs over seven years.

Founded as a mobile catering business in 1942, SK Food specializes in supplying sandwiches, wraps, snacks, flatbreads, burgers and protein snacks for branding by corporate customers worldwide in the quick-serve, retail and vendor sectors.