Four hundred jobs are on their way to a small Tennessee county that recently held the state’s highest unemployment rate. Michigan-based auto-parts suppliers NYX is planning a multimillion dollar expansion in rural Perry County, southwest of Nashville.
NYX injection-molds plastics for carmakers, and also owns another parts-supplier in the area that was forced to lay off half its workforce a few years ago. That’s when unemployment in Perry County hit about one-in-four. The state brought in stimulus money to create jobs, but the jobless rate is still around 15 percent.
Matt Votaw (VOE-taw) directs the Perry County Chamber of Commerce. He calls news of the expansion “tremendous,” saying many people had to leave town to find work, and have been waiting for a chance to move home.
“It’s important to remember too that it’s going to be awhile before the jobs can be filled. They’re not even going to begin taking applications until November. Right now the facility that they’re moving into is completely empty, so they’re having to bring everything in and get it all set up. So it’ll be awhile. The jobs didn’t leave overnight and they’re not going to come back in overnight.”
NYX expects to create some 400 jobs over the next five years.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM