East Chattanooga is getting a $60-million investment + 150 jobs thanks to Nippon Paint — a Japanese-based painting + coating manufacturer with operations in 16 countries – who is bringing a state-of-the-art plant to the former Harriet Tubman housing project.

Government + business leaders in an announcement yesterday said this is big for East Chattanooga, in part, because it’s been more than 100 years since the area had a new major economic development deal. Construction is expected to begin in January 2020 on the plant, which will produce automotive E-Coat and topcoat.

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said that, in the coming days, there will be more information about what’s planned for the rest of the space. The plant is taking up about 30 of 45 acres of the site.

By the numbers

150. Jobs that will be added.

5-7. Years the project will be in progress.

270,000. Square footage of the new plant.

30. Acres of area for the new plant. (This is ~130,6800 sq. feet)

$22.63. Average hourly wage expected from the new plant; wages starting at about $15-16.

$9.5 million. City money spent to acquire, clear + maintain the Harriet Tubman site in the past six years

Fast Facts

Leaders will build the new plant to be LEED-certified.
There are 663 households within a half-mile of the site. 28.5% of that population doesn’t own a vehicle, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Nippon wanted to locate near their potential workforce.
The company is committed to hiring as many people as possible from neighborhoods nearest to the facility, Mayor Andy Berke said.
The Japanese manufacturer isn’t getting a property tax break, which means more money for local schools + city efforts on the rest of the Tubman site.
Nippon is the world’s fourth-largest paint and coatings manufacturer.

“East Chattanooga is rising”

At a Monday morning press conference at the site, city, state + community leaders said that work for a better quality of life in East Chattanooga has been going on for years, most recently since about 2012. Berke said a major missing piece was a living wage.

“Back in 2012, we started to wonder what we could do to express our interest in trying to change our conditions in this community … We sought sustainable investment.” — Ken Smith, president of the Avondale Neighborhood Association

“Today we see the full picture of a neighborhood rising. We’re going to use economic development to drive community development in a way that will benefit everyone.”— Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke