Volkswagen Announcement Timeline
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
December 17, 2008
Paint Shop Construction Begins
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. announced that construction is set to begin on the paint facility for its Chattanooga plant. The company also announced that Walbridge has been selected as the general contractor for the $30 million facility, and will oversee construction for one of the three primary plant buildings. This $30 million is the first major portion of the company's $1 billion investment in the new plant.
December 8, 2008
Head Of Supplier Diversity Named
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. announced today that it has named Keith Eakins Jr. the new supplier diversity manager. Eakins is based at the company's new production facility in Chattanooga, Tenn. Eakins was most recently minority business development manager for Hyundai Motor Manufacturing in Montgomery, Ala. where he was responsible for building the company's supplier diversity program.
Volkswagen is in the early stages of procurement and will continue to expand its local and national supplier base in the coming months. The company has announced that ten percent of the suppliers for the production facility will be minority and women-owned businesses by start of production and that five percent of suppliers for the vehicle will be minority and women-owned by start of production, with the goal of ten percent by 2015. Volkswagen is partnering with local, state and federal organizations to help achieve that goal.
December 8, 2008
Suppliers Selected For New Volkswagen Vehicle
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. announced today the Dräxlmaier Group and EMCON Technologies have been selected to produce the wireharness and cold end exhaust system, respectively, for Volkswagen's new midsized sedan (NMS). Saturn Electronics and Engineering, Inc., a certified Minority Business Enterprise, will develop and build a solid state electronics module for the NMS.
"Dräxlmaier's expertise makes them an excellent choice to supply the heart of the NMS's electrical system," said Frank Fischer, CEO-designate for Volkswagen's Chattanooga production facility. "EMCON Technologies has a long history of delivering quality exhaust products to Volkswagen production facilities abroad and we are looking forward to bringing that environmentally-friendly technology to our new Tennessee plant."
November 20, 2008
VW Career and Supplier Expo
Volkswagen Group of America hosted a Career and Supplier Expo at the Chattanooga Convention Center on Nov. 20. An estimated 2,000-2,500 people were in attendance. Volkswagen purchasing officials were on hand to meet with interested suppliers, hosting sessions about the company's purchasing and procurement policies. The career fair focused on professional and administrative positions that the company is looking to fill, primarily within the next three to six months.
November 19, 2008
VW Site Visit
ECD Commissioner Matt Kisber and Assistant Commissioner Paul LaGrange joined Volkswagen executives and local officials to tour VW's future site at Enterprise South in Chattanooga. Much of the work in readying the site is not only on time but ahead of schedule. More than 279 pieces of heavy equipment have been employed in the site preparation, and 388 people from 18 different companies, including workers from Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga, have participated in the project.
October 22-28, 2008
Germany Trade Mission
Governor Phil Bredesen, Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber and 41 representatives of government and communities from across Tennessee participated in a trade mission to Germany Oct. 22-28, 2008. The trade mission was organized following an invitation by the leadership of Volkswagen AG to Governor Bredesen to visit the company’s global headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. Following that visit to Wolfsburg on October 22, the delegation held briefings about Tennessee for the automaker’s supplier community in Dusseldorf on October 23, Frankfurt on October 24 and Munich on October 27.
During his visit to the VW global headquarters in Wolfsburg, Governor Bredesen met with Dr. Martin Winterkorn, chairman, Board of Management of Volkswagen AG; Dr. Jochem Heizmann, member, Board of Management with responsibility for Group Production; and with Frank Fischer, chief executive officer of the Chattanooga production facility. Read more.
October 15, 2008
VW CEO Stefan Jacoby Gives Keynote Address at Clean Energy Summit
Volkswagen Group of America President and CEO Stefan Jacoby was the keynote speaker at the first-ever Governor’s Summit on Clean Energy Technology in Knoxville. The 1½-day summit, sponsored by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Tennessee Valley Authority was a gathering of thought leaders in business, government, energy and the environment to develop strategies for making Tennessee a leader in the clean-energy technology sector. In addition to Mr. Jacoby, speakers and moderators included: Governor Phil Bredesen, former Sen. Howard Baker, Sen. Bob Corker; TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore; ORNL Director Thom Mason; University of Tennessee President John Petersen; and Appalachian Regional Commission Co-Chair Anne Pope. Read more.
September 9, 2008
Don Jackson Named President of New Volkswagen Production Facility
Volkswagen Group of America named Don Jackson president of its Chattanooga production facility. Jackson will report directly to the CEO Frank Fischer. He also will serve as senior advisor for manufacturing to the company's board of directors. Jackson was most recently vice president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Texas, where his responsibilities included the manufacturing and quality departments. His position was effective October 1, 2008. Read more.
August 29, 2008
Jagla Assumes HR Responsibility at New Plant
It was announced that Hans-Herbert Jagla, HR director at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg, will assume responsibility for HR at the new Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, effective September 1, 2008. Jagla joined the Volkswagen Group in 1979. He was responsible for personnel planning concepts in Wolfsburg before moving to head personnel development at the Autoeuropa plant in Portugal in 1992. Jagla transferred to Volkswagen Coaching in 1994, where he was Head of Central Services and Projects and managed the Wolfsburg office from 1998 to 2001. He subsequently held the post of Head of HR at the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles plant in Hanover. Jagla has been HR director with responsibility for Group and brand staff at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg since 2006. Read more.
August 29, 2008
Economic Impact Study Released
Tennessee Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Matt Kisber released an analysis of the Volkswagen project in Chattanooga which shows the recently-announced assembly plant will boost incomes in the region by $511.1 million annually and generate more than $55 million annually in new tax revenues for both the state and local governments. In addition to the 2,000 jobs created by direct employment at the Volkswagen facility, the report estimates another 9,477 jobs will be created in the region through construction and supplier activity. Read more.
August 19, 2008
Frank Fischer Named Head of New VW Factory
Frank Fischer was appointed head of the project team and plant manager for the new Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, effective October 1, 2008. Fischer holds engineering degrees from RWTH Aachen and the University of Washington in Seattle. He joined the Volkswagen Group in 1991, first sharing responsibility for strategic issues and competition comparisons before becoming head of body construction at the Wolfsburg plant. He subsequently moved to Emden as production manager in 2001. Frank Fischer has been the plant manager at Brunswick (Braunschweig), Germany since March 2005. Read more.
August 6, 2008
VW Holds First Job Fair in Tennessee
Human resources staffers for Volkswagen Group of America launched the first wave of hiring for the company's new Chattanooga manufacturing operations at a job fair at the Chattanooga Convention Center. About 100 applicantswere invitedfor interviews as the automaker began filling 50 purchasing positions assigned to the new production facility. Those applicants were chosen from a pool of about 2,200 resumes filed online with the company.
August 5, 2008
Engineering, Architecture and Construction Firms Selected
Volkswagen Group of America announced engineering and architecture firm SSOE has been hired to oversee the architecture, engineering and construction management for the company’s new production facility in Chattanooga. The company will partner with Environmental Resources Management (ERM) for the environmental permitting process and Alberici Constructors, Inc. for the construction management of the facility. Read more.
July 15, 2008
Project Announcement
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. announced on July 15, 2008, that it will build a U.S. automotive production facility in Chattanooga, Tenn., where it will produce a car designed specifically for the North American consumer and invest $1 billion in the economy. The announcement is an important element of the company’s overall U.S. strategy of connecting with its customers, increasing its competitiveness and tripling its U.S. customer base in the next decade. With the new plant, Volkswagen will bring about 2,000 direct jobs to the area, and will add a significant number of jobs in related sectors. Read more.