(Jun. 29) – Magneti Marelli plans to add an automotive lighting division to its plant in Pulaski and this will bring 800 new jobs in Giles County, where the current unemployment rate reaches 8.9 percent. The auto supply project will bring so many new jobs to such a small county — population 29,273 — that an expanded Magneti Marelli SpA plant means some workers will have to be recruited from other nearby counties, including from north Alabama, as said Daniel M. Speer, executive director of the Pulaski-Giles County Economic Development Commission. The $53.7 million expansion of the Magneti Marelli plant in the Giles County Industrial Park shows how Middle Tennessee’s manufacturing base is at least partially reversing a trend of losing factory jobs over the past two decades. The facility already makes auto suspension and exhaust systems. “We’re so thankful to have 800 jobs coming to Giles County,” said County Executive Janet Parker Vanzant. “It’s good to see some manufacturing finally coming back, and I think this will help take care of our entire 13-county area.” The new division will bring production of Magneti Marelli’s headlights and tail lights for autos to the United States for the first time. The plant’s current workforce of 200 will expand to 300 by the end of this year, and the rest of the new jobs will be added as the plant is reconfigured for production of the lighting systems. (Peg)
