Federal, state, county and local officials joined Symmco Inc Tuesday in launching its new plant at the Phipps Bend Industrial Park. (L-R) IDB chairman Larry Elkins, TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, plant manager Frank Freeman, Symmco CEO Beth Krise, Symmco Chairman of the Board John Bean, NETWORKS industrial recruiter Ronnie Price, Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, and Symmco customer relations manager Kathy Wise.
Federal, state, county and local officials joined Symmco Inc Tuesday in launching its new plant at the Phipps Bend Industrial Park. (L-R) IDB chairman Larry Elkins, TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, plant manager Frank Freeman, Symmco CEO Beth Krise, Symmco Chairman of the Board John Bean, NETWORKS industrial recruiter Ronnie Price, Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger, and Symmco customer relations manager Kathy Wise.
It’s been 14 years since ground was originally broken on the Phipps Bend Industrial Park’s Spec Building, but Tuesday saw the beginning of a new era for the project, as well as a new set of golden shovels.
On Tuesday the Pennsylvania based Symmco Inc. broke ground on it new metal manufacturing business which will locate in the Spec Building at 386 Phipps Bend Road in Surgoinsville. The project involves a $13 million investment in Hawkins County and will produce 86 new jobs.
Plant manager Frank Freeman told the Review the plant is expected to be up and running between May and July of 2023.
“It just depends on materials and if we can get everything in on time,” Freeman said. “We have the equipment. It’s ready to come down as soon as we get the floor in, and get space here.”
Entry level positions will start at $16 per hours, but highly skilled positions will pay higher. Job openings will be advertised as that start-up date gets nearer.
Freeman said he’s already working with the Phipps Bend TCAT campus to recruit future job candidates.
“The floor jobs are typical manufacturing,” Freeman said. “We’ll have some high skilled jobs for die-setters. Office personnel. Quality control folks. We’ve committed to 86 jobs. Based on the level of business that we currently have we’ll far exceed that in the next three years.”
Symmco chose to move to Northeast Tennessee due to the proximity of some of its biggest customers, including Tuff Torq Corporation in Morristown which manufactures tractor transmissions.
“There’s about 108 different parts that we manufacture for them,” Freeman said. “It’s gears, levers, bushings — lots of gears. TTC is our largest customer, but we do have a project going on with John Deere, so that will be one of the first projects to come in.”
Symmco’s arrival is expected to attract another company to Phipps Bend.
“We’re working with one of our partners in Pennsylvania to locate his heat treat operation right next door,” Freeman said. “We’re in the process of getting that all taken care of, and he’ll make his own announcement.”
Founded in 1952, Symmco Inc. specializes in the manufacturing of powdered metal for customer-engineered components and stock products, which serve many industries including lawn and garden, medical, power transmission and others.
In addition to its manufacturing operations, Symmco also performs secondary machining and in-house tool design.
The company’s 86 new jobs will increase its total number of U.S. employees to nearly 300.
“It has been my dream for many years to expand our business to the southern states and be closer to our major customers,” said Symmco CEO Beth Krise. “This expansion will not only bring jobs to the area but new powder metal press and furnace technology. I am excited to see this vision become reality.”
The Hawkins County Industrial Development Board launched the Phipps Bend Industrial Park Spec Building project in 2008, just as the country hit one of its worst economic slumps in history.
The 70,000-square-foot building was constructed in 2009 with about $600,000 in grant funding and a $700,000 loan from U.S. Bank.
Due to a lull in industrial growth caused by the poor economy, that building sat vacant and on the market until 2018 when a Canadian tractor-trailer accessories manufacturer bought the building with the promise of investing $7 million into the plant and creating 54 jobs.
They company was sold a short time later and that promise never came to fruition, and the new owner put the Spec Building back up for sale.
Several people who have been involved with the Spec Building project from the beginning attended Tuesday’s ground-breaking, including Hawkins County Industrial Development Board chairman Larry Elkins.
“This is a really great company and they’ve been around for 70 years in Pennsylvania, and I’ve met the CEO and COO, and the COO, and the board president, and some of the board members, and they’re totally committed to the project,” Elkins said. “They have some great customers and expect this company to expand. That was one of the things they were looking for, they wanted enough property to expand this operation.”
After 14 years, Elkins said “it’s absolutely a relief” to get a good company into that building.
“When we built it we went into a total recession, which in this area was almost a depression, so the building just sat empty there for years,” Elkins added. “It’s been a struggle, but fortunately we were able to pay every penny of the building off at no expense to Hawkins County. It actually brought a couple of businesses in to Hawkins County that came to look at the Spec Building, and it didn’t fit their needs, but we ended up selling them property to build their own plant.”
Rep. Gary Hicks has also been involved with the Spec Building since the beginning, as a member of the County Commission when the project was launched.
“I am proud to welcome Symmco to Hawkins County,” Hicks said. “This investment reinforces our efforts to develop a skilled workforce and pro-business climate in Tennessee. I congratulate everyone who helped make this announcement possible, and I look forward to Symmco’s successful future in Surgoinsville.”
Gov Bill Lee had planned to attend Tuesday’s event at Phipps Bend but was unable to due to his wife’s illness.
Gov. Lee issued the following statement: “Tennessee’s strong business climate and skilled workforce continue to attract companies to every part of the state, and our rural communities are no exception. I thank Symmco for its decision to invest in Hawkins County so that Tennesseans across the region can thrive.”
Tuesday was the first visit to Hawkins County for newly appointed TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter.
“With more than 2,600 manufacturing businesses across the state, Tennessee is positioned to provide companies like Symmco with the tools and resources needed to succeed,” McWhorter said. “We appreciate this company’s investment in Northeast Tennessee and welcome Symmco to Surgoinsville.”
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