Governor Nathan Deal today announced that Tenneco, a global vehicle supplier, is expanding its production lines, adding new equipment and increasing its workforce by 350 additional employees at its existing facilities in Hartwell.
“Tenneco is an important player in the automotive industry, and we are pleased they have expanded their presence in Georgia,” Deal said. “Georgia’s comprehensive logistics system and skilled workforce are two of our many key selling assets because they give companies like Tenneco easy, efficient access to their markets as well as a world-class workforce.”
Tenneco is one of the world’s leading designers, manufacturers and distributors of emission and ride control products and systems for the automotive original equipment market and aftermarket. The company is expanding existing lines and installing additional production lines at its Hartwell manufacturing facility, where automotive shock absorbers and struts are produced.
Hart County has been a Georgia Certified Work Ready Community since 2009, indicating that the county has a ready pool of labor specifically trained for a range of positions, including those in the manufacturing industry. Tenneco has called Hart County home since the 1960s, and already employs a mix of more than 750 full and part-time workers at its Hartwell facility.
“Tenneco is committed to the Hartwell community and we appreciated the support from the city, county and state as we moved more production to our Hartwell facility,” said Lorenzo Muhammad, Hartwell plant manager. “Through the Georgia Work Ready program, we have grown our skilled workforce significantly in the last six months to support our growing business.”
“We continue to appreciate the commitment Tenneco has made to our community. They have furnished employment opportunities to a significant number of Hart County households for more than 50 years,” said Douglas Cleveland, chairman of Hart County Industrial Building Authority. “This growth further strengthens that commitment and will add even more families to Tenneco’s workforce. Tenneco has been, and will continue to be, a very important member of our business community.”
“The Hart County Board of Commissioners would like to thank Tenneco for its commitment to Hart County and our citizens. Tenneco has a positive impact on our community as well as Northeast Georgia,” said R.C. Oglesby, chairman of the Hart County Board of Commissioners.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) partnered with Hart County, the Industrial Building Authority and City of Hartwell to support the Tenneco expansion project.
“Tenneco is a great example of one of Georgia’s longstanding business leaders continually demonstrating its loyalty to our state,” said Chris Cummiskey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “Georgia’s existing industry base is one of our key economic drivers, so we work hard to understand the unique needs of this business sector to be sure companies like Tenneco have the resources and support necessary to be successful in Georgia and in markets where they do business.”
GDEcD project manager Suzanne Browne assisted the company with this expansion on behalf of the state.
About Tenneco
Tenneco is a $7.2 billion global manufacturing company with headquarters in Lake Forest, Ill.,and approximately 24,000 employees worldwide. Tenneco is one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers and marketers of emission control and ride control products and systems for the automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment markets and the aftermarket. Tenneco markets its products principally under the Monroe®, Walker®, Gillet™ and Clevite®Elastomer brand names.