April 28,
2009 Bristol, Tennessee - About
170 local business owners packed a Bristol Motor Speedway conference
room Tuesday to learn how to do business with what will soon become
one of East Tennessee's largest employers.
"We're hoping to get new opportunities with
Volkswagen," said Kim Hopkins, president of Blue Ridge Express
Co., a trucking company based in Bristol, Tennessee.
In July the Volkswagen Group of America announced plans to build
its next manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A new
mid-sized sedan will be built at the factory, which will be tailored
to the U.S. market.
Company spokesman Jill Bratina said the plant will
employ 2,000 when it is in full operation. It will indirectly create
another 9,400 jobs for the region by sending work to local parts
suppliers and other businesses. "We are committed to doing
business locally," Bratina said. Already the company has demonstrated
this commitment by requiring that 30 percent of the building materials
come from the plant's immediate area.
Bratina said Tuesday's forum was designed to remind
local businesses of this commitment and show them how they could
start working with Volkswagen.
Hopkins said her business would be a good fit for
Volkswagen because it already has 16 years of experience making
just-in-time parts shipments to automobile manufacturers in the
region. The business currently employs 5 people. "With the
economy and the automobile industry in its current situation, (partnering
with Volkswagen) would be great for us," Hopkins said.
Tuesday's forum was one of several Bratina has
held across the region with Keith Eakins, the Chattanooga plant's
supplier diversity manager. It was organized by the Northeast Tennessee
Valley Regional Industrial Development Association, which serves
15 counties in the Northeast Tennessee Valley region. "We've
done several of these forums to reach out and touch as many people
as we can," Eakins said. "We want to make sure everyone
has the opportunity (to work with us)."
He said business owners interested in working with
Volkswagen must first register with the company's website: www.vwgroupsupply.com.
Taking this step will give the businesses direct access to the Volkswagen
Group's purchasing agents and put them on a distribution list to
get bids or purchase orders from the company as they are issued.
Registering also gives businesses a change to work with other Volkswagen
Group companies such as Audi and Bugatti. "Once you're in the
system, all of our buyers will have access to your information,"
Eakins said. It's best to register in the evening because high volume
is making the connections slow at other times of the day.
Eakins said Volkswagen is working as quickly as
it can to line up its suppliers. Production is expected to start
at the Chattanooga plant in January 2011. Eakins said the company
also is committed to working with small and minority-owned businesses.
It hopes to send 5 percent of its work to these companies by 2011
and 10 percent by 2015.
For more information on the Northeast Tennessee
Valley Regional Industrial Development Association (NETVRIDA), please
visit www.netvaly.org.
