Ficosa Automotive combines North American Operations into Streamlined Cookeville, TN Facility.
Cookeville, TN – April 6, 2016– Ficosa North America officials announced today that construction is complete and equipment installation has begun on the new 264,750 square foot facility developed by the Hollingsworth Companies which will help Ficosa to implement its plan to expand its Tennessee presence with the new state-of-the-art facility at the Highlands Business Park in Cookeville. The automotive supplier will invest $58 million in the Putnam County facility and create new 550 jobs and relocate an additional 450 jobs to the Cookeville location. Ficosa was drawn to Cookeville by the high quality workforce fed by a steady flow of graduates from Tennessee Tech. Ficosa produces mirror assemblies for Nissan, Ford, Volkswagen, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and other auto manufacturers. The new Cookeville facility will increase production capacity and allow components currently made in China and Mexico to be made in Tennessee.
“This is a strategic move that will allow the consolidation of key operations and enable further future growth,” Ficosa’s Global Chief Executive Javier Pujol said. “This new state of the art facility will not only allow us to better serve our customers but also provide a better and more secure future for our Tennessee employees.”
The project was the result of a huge cooperative effort between Ficosa, The State of Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority, Cookeville, Putnam County and the Hollingsworth Companies. It required many trips across the state and across the Atlantic to the Ficosa headquarters in Barcelona, Spain to bring it all together. The Hollingsworth Companies worked closely with the Ficosa team to design, permit and build the state-of-the-art injection molding/die-casting/finishing facility. The project achieves a new level of manufacturing efficiency by bringing 5 separate operations under one roof with significantly improved material and process flows. The new robotic painting operation is particularly impressive, and improves worker health and safety and finished product consistency.
“This was a great team effort from top to bottom with the Ficosa team. Ficosa has recently built new factories in Poland and China, but the Cookeville facility took the ‘best of breed’ from all of their locations and encouraged the Hollingsworth Companies to bring solutions to the table as well. All through the project we continued to work closely together and were able to deliver the project ahead of schedule by more than 60 days.” the Hollingsworth Companies Tom Wortham, SVP of Architecture and Development said.
About The Hollingsworth Companies
The Hollingsworth Companies, based in Clinton, Tennessee, are the largest non-urban Industrial Real Estate development and construction firm in the southeastern United States with fifteen million square feet of industrial space. Hollingsworth Capital Partners, another portfolio company, was listed as the 12th fastest growing American company in Inc. Magazine’s September 2008 issue. The company offers Finish-to-Suit, Build-to-Suit and Fund-to-Suit services, and keeps an inventory of available facilities for light manufacturing and distribution clients throughout the southeast for lease or for sale to match growing businesses needs.
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Media Contact:
Tom Wortham
The Hollingsworth Companies
865-457-3601 (Office)
865-414-7061 (Mobile)
twortham@hollingsworthcos.com
