State, TVA visiting Lewisburg industrial site this week; officials describe potential 80-employee manufacturing investment

Jennifer Pearson, Lewisburg director of economic and community development, told the mayor and council the state’s Economic & Community Development office and TVA will visit a privately owned site in the city’s industrial park on Thursday to evaluate it for a prospective manufacturer.

Pearson said the company is a North American joint venture in building-product manufacturing. She said the site would initially require about an 80,000-square-foot building, expandable by about 90,000 square feet, plus approximately 80,000 square feet of paved laydown. The company told staff it would not use process water, would deploy highly automated equipment requiring electrical and mechanical engineers and would bring about 80 employees over five years — approximately 60 in manufacturing and 20 in office roles — with an average wage figure cited by staff as $90,000. Pearson said the combined building and equipment investment is estimated at about $45,000,000.

Pearson presented these numbers to the council and said state and regional partners are coordinating the site visit.

Why it matters: A confirmed project of this size would be one of the larger private investments discussed in recent council meetings and could affect local workforce, utilities and transportation planning. City staff said the firm would not use process water, a detail that affects water-supply planning and permitting.

Quotes from the meeting: "They are not using any water in the process, so we're good there," Pearson said. On size and scope, Pearson summarized: "80 employees over the next 5 years, 60 manufacturing, 20 office, average wage $90,000, $45,000,000 investment between the building and equipment."

Ending: Pearson asked council members to allow the state-led team to inspect the site Thursday; the council received the update and moved on to other agenda items.