January 23, 2012 Elizabethton, Tennessee –
One of the largest industries in Elizabethton will soon be getting bigger.
Jon Carley, plant manager of the Snap-on Tools factory on State Line Road, announced that the company would begun construction in February on a 23,000 square-foot expansion to its current 140,000 square-foot building.
He said he expects ground to be broken in February and to have the addition completed by July or August.
Carley made the announcement during Monday’s meeting of the Carter County Tomorrow economic development group. The group’s board members expressed their thanks to Carley and Snap-on to make a major investment in the county.
“Snap-on is known for the quality of their products and we appreciate the willingness of the company to make an investment here,” Elizabethton City Council member Richard Tester said.
Carley said demand for the tools manufactured at the Elizabethton plant has grown as a result of two factors. First, the continued worldwide respect for tools carrying the Snap-on trademark and second, the increased number of products being made in the Elizabethton plant.
The result was a busy factory in a tight space. Snap-on headquarters began considering an expansion to the plant last year. Carter County Tomorrow President Tom Anderson discussed the possible expansion, but hid the identity of the company under the cover name of Project Quest until the final decision was made.
The decision by the corporation was placed on hold for several months, but the decision was finally announced and the identity of Project Quest was revealed at Monday’s Carter County Tomorrow meeting.
Carley said the expansion will provide a lot more production space that will help the plant manufacture even more products. The expansion will also make needed improvements to the facility that were badly needed, such as a new cafeteria.
The company currently employs 350 workers at its Elizabethton plant. Corporate-wide, there are 13,000 employees. Snap-on was founded in 1920 and is a 2.6-billion-dollar company headquartered in Kenosha, Wis. The website for Snap-on Tools is: http://www.snapon.com.
