200 new jobs coming to Union City
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UNION CITY, Tenn. — A big economic boost for northern West Tennessee was announced Friday in Union City, where new business and new jobs are all on the way. “We’re so proud that this building didn’t become vacant like others we have in Union City,” Obion County Mayor Benny McGuire said. “This will be a shot in the arm for us.” A total of 200 new jobs are on the way after a West Tennessee based company, Institutional Casework Inc., plans to expand. “With the demand for what this company builds, they have a potential even above what they’re committing to for expansion,” Gov. Bill Haslam said. Their factory floor is still empty, but in a matter of months it will be buzzing with a workforce making laboratory equipment. “We’re making a $6 million investment into this facility,” ICI CEO Jim Arthurs said. “So we need to get the building rehabbed and bring the machinery in, then we have to train the workforce.” And it’s a workforce that’s had its struggles over the years. “We thought it was the end of the world when Goodyear closed its doors,” Mayor McGuire said. “We were the No. 1 in unemployment in the state, and now we’re still in the top ten but we’re coming back.” Although it’s been a long time coming, Haslam said it’s an area that’s never been forgotten. “We’ve kind of said ‘slow but steady’ while trying to figure out what can we do to attract jobs back to Obion County,” Haslam said. “But getting jobs to rural West Tennessee has been a challenge.” But it’s a challenge local leaders met head-on, showing that Tennessee, over other states ICI was looking at, is the place to be. “We out-worked them and said it matters more to us than it does to you,” Haslam said. “I think that the company felt that, and I think they made a great choice.” ICI said they expect to have their new factory fully operational by January. The Tennessee Career Center in Union City will host a job fair later this year.
