WHITE COUNTY — In 2018, federal, state, and regional officials gathered near the White County airport for the announcement that Hörmann LLC would invest approximately $64 million to establish a manufacturing facility in White County.
On Friday, leaders gathered once again to celebrate the grand opening of the 325,000-square-foot facility.
“After more than three years of hard work, patience, and determination, this exciting day is finally here,” said White County Executive Denny Wayne Robinson. “Local, state and federal support, along with countless hours of effort by dozens of partners brought this exceptional project to fruition. We give our sincere thanks to the Hörmann family and company leaders for believing in our community and for the far-reaching benefits that Hörmann will bring to White County for decades to come.”
Hörmann is a German-, family-owned business now in its fourth generation. One of the world’s largest entry systems manufacturers with nearly a century of experience, Hörmann specializes in entry and interior doors, as well as sectional, commercial and industrial doors for both home and industry.
“In the US, however, we are primarily focused on the sectional door and specialized industrial sectors,” said Camron Rudd, president of Hörmann LLC. .
As early as 2014, Hörmann LLC began laying the groundwork for an expansion into product categories that would ultimately require a new facility to produce them. As planning for the new facility began, so did the search for a location that would be suitable for the expansion.
“The early planning had us looking at several sites in several states but Tennessee’s business-friendly environment and central location to the east coast market made it an early front runner,” said Rudd.
Finding an available site that could easily accommodate the sprawling project initially proved difficult.
“One of the early challenges was in finding a site that was large enough to accommodate our current and future plans, yet still be located in an area that already had substantial infrastructure; including easy access to major highways and a high-quality workforce,” Rudd explained.
White County’s close proximity to Interstate 40 and Tennessee Tech University fulfilled all of the manufacturer’s major needs, he added.
“Add to this the high quality of life provided through the natural beauty of the surrounding areas for great outdoor activities and a vibrant and growing community of small businesses… these characteristics of the area made us feel confident in investing in this area because we feel as if we can not only grow the business but use those surrounding assets to help recruit and retain our workforce,” Rudd said.
Knoxville-based architecture firm MBI and T.W. Frierson, a Nashville-area general contractor, led the construction efforts; aided by Cookeville-based subcontractors Lakeland Electric and Carwile Mechanical and many other subcontractors based in Middle and East Tennessee.
During the grand opening celebration, the Hörmann LLC facility was recognized as an Excellence in Construction Eagle Award Recipient by the Greater Tennessee Associated Builders and Contractors.
The Hörmann LLC facility is approximately 325,000 square feet in size; including 45,000 square feet of office space and a 4,000-square-foot showroom. The facility will employ approximately 204. Hörmann employs more than 5,000 individuals worldwide. Hörmann has more than 40 manufacturing facilities on three continents; including five factories in North America that cover 1 million square feet of manufacturing space. Hörmann LLC has two factories and six active sales centers with two more set to open by the end of 2020 — Cincinnati in November and Minneapolis in December.