BRISTOL, Tenn. – 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, Tenn.
In July, the Volkswagen Group of America announced plans to build its next manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tenn. A new mid-sized sedan will be built at the factory, which will be tailored to the U.S. market.
Company spokeswoman Jill Bretina said the plant will employ 2,000 when it is in full operation. It will indirectly create another 9,400 jobs for the region, she said, by sending work to local parts suppliers and other businesses.
“We are committed to doing business locally,” Bretina said.
Already, the company has demonstrated this commitment by requiring that 30 percent of the building materials come from the plant’s immediate area, she said.
Bretina 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 five 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 Bretina has held across the region with Keith Eakins, the Chattanooga plant’s supplier diversity manager. It was organized by the Northeast Tennessee Valley Regional Economic Development Association, which serves 14 counties in the Mountain Empire.
“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 supplier Web site, 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, Eakins said.
Registering also gives businesses a chance to work with other Volkswagen group companies such as Audi and Bugatti Automobiles.
“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, he said, because high traffic 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, he said.
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, he said.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
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