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Chattanooga: VW seeks suppliers, professionals at expo

By: Mike Pare
(Contact)

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J.Ed. Marston

Volkswagen will take the next step to build its Chattanooga work force on Nov. 20 when it seeks to fill professional and administrative slots for its planned $1 billion assembly plant.

When it holds a career and supplier expo at the Chattanooga Convention Center from 3 to 9 p.m., the German automaker also will look for local companies that want to do business.

Jill Bratina, VW’s director of corporate communications, said the expo won’t be aimed at manufacturing jobs yet.

“That will be down the road,” she said.

At the expo, VW officials will look for employees in the areas of finance, controlling, safety and environment, process engineering, quality assurance and human resources, Ms. Bratina said.

The company also is eyeing workers in information technology, training and development, community relations and administrative support among others, she said.

VW plans to fill the posts within the next three to six months, she said.

Volkswagen will hold seminars at the expo on the history of the company, its strategy to sharply grow its presence in the United States and the automaker’s work environment.

For supplier companies, VW also will offer seminars to show how to do business with the automaker and what it is seeking from businesses.

The car company is working with the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga State Technical Community College and other entities to fill the more than 2,000 jobs it will need for the assembly plant.

Construction of the 1.9 million-square-foot facility is scheduled to start this month at Enterprise South industrial park, with auto production beginning in about two years.

J.Ed. Marston, the Chamber’s vice president for marketing, said it continues to receive a lot of interest from job-seekers and potential suppliers.

“We continue to get a lot of requests for information,” he said.

Eva Lewis, Chattanooga State’s associate vice president for institutional research and public relations, said the jobs at VW will be “extremely technology rich.”

“We’re planning to be one of largest training arms for VW and its suppliers,” she said.

Ms. Bratina said people interested in jobs should bring a resume to the expo. They also can register at Volkswagen Group of America’s Web site at www.volkswagengroupamerica.com, she said.

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