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Life on the line and beyond

Every day, thousands of people go to work at the General Motors manufacturing facility in Spring Hill. The plant currently produces the Chevrolet Equinox, as well as a number of other automotive parts, including 4-cylinder engines. It takes a lot of coordination, skill and training to keep everything running smoothly inside the massive, 6.9 million square foot building. And that …

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First GM Academy revs up for Maury County students

From The Columbia Daily Herald – Tim Hodge SPRING HILL — A jaunty tune plays over a loudspeaker at General Motors’ Spring Hill Manufacturing facility as workers prepare to take on the assembly line. Each person stands at the ready, going over his or her job in completing a new car. The tune ceases, and the workers get busy. About …

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Magna opens in Spring Hill

From The Columbia Daily Herald – Tim Hodge SPRING HILL — Auto parts manufacturer Magna International officially opened the doors to its new Spring Hill facility Monday. The 122,500-square-foot operation, at 701 Beechcroft Road, is set to bring more than 350 jobs and represents a $17 million investment. The site abuts the Spring Hill General Motors Manufacturing facility. The company …

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Unemployment rate down in Maury Co.

From The Columbia Daily Herald – Tim Hodge Maury County registered a 5.6 percent preliminary unemployment rate for February, giving the area one of the 10-lowest percentages in the state, according to Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development data. Maury County was No. 10 of 10 on the list. The figures, released Thursday, showed the 5.6 percent rate was …

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Team Maury: The Maury County Chamber and Economic Alliance has the right magic

From the Columbia Daily Herald – Roben Mounger Imagine a bustling agricultural supply business in downtown Columbia around 1907. The upper 8,000—square—foot floor of Porter Walker is filled with mule harnesses, wagon parts and the like. By the 1940s, imagine then that the phosphate industry transfigured that same upper floor to creak with the supply bulk of industry — hard …

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Local officials forge D.C. connections

From the Columbia Daily Herald – Tim Hodge While President Barack Obama wrapped up his Nashville visit, Maury County Chamber and Economic Alliance officials were returning from the Commander-in-Chief’s home base. The MCCEA took a delegation of 20 people — consisting of local elected officials, MCCEA staff, board members, business investors and employers — on a trip in Washington, D.C., …

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Vacant Columbia building becomes music hot spot

By TIM HODGE thodge@c-dh.net After three years, a once-vacant building in downtown Columbia has a new life filled with meals and music. Venue Tenn, 117 W. 7th St., was recently opened by co-owners Cody Sumpter and Emily Terrell. The couple also operates another location in Spring Hill — Venue 10 — which has been open for a little more than …

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20K jobs added to area last year

From The Tennessean – Lance Williams Whether they involved guns, cars, tires or electronic bingo machines, a string of announcements in the Nashville area last year all had one common denominator: jobs. Company expansions and relocations last fiscal year were responsible for nearly 20,000 new jobs across the region, the highest total in more than a decade, according to the …

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Samuel, Son & Co., Limited to Locate New Manufacturing Operations in Columbia

Metal Processing and Distributing Company to Invest $32.6 Million, Create 42 New Jobs NASHVILLE – Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty along with Bill Chisholm, president and CEO of Samuel, Son & Co., Limited, announced today the company will locate new manufacturing operations in Tennessee by constructing a 105,000 square foot facility in NorthPointe Industrial Park in Columbia. …

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BMC Metalworks takes flight with leadership

Columbia Daily Herald – Roben Mounger You would be charmed upon meeting Jimmy Phillips, the company president of BMC Metalworks, a full service machining and fabrication company. His boyish good looks and upbeat air are a cover for the tough and astute first-time entrepreneur. After college, Phillips pursued a career in sales and operations and worked in administration with national consumer …