By Rebecca Ferrar, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.
Sep. 28--Gov. Phil Bredesen will join Clinton and Anderson County officials today for the grand opening of the Aisin Automotive Casting Tennessee Inc. plant in Clinton.

The company spent $67 million to bring the new manufacturing facility to Anderson County and has hired 124 workers so far. Company officials expect employment to jump to 160 by the end of the year, with projected hiring of up to 400 by 2007.

"The plant is completed," said Darryl Roberts, Aisin human resources manager. "We started mass production in late July."

The company makes automobile parts -- oil pumps, water pumps, pistons and cylinder head covers for Toyota, Honda and General Motors.

Today's events include plant tours along with speeches from the governor and others.

"We feel like (Bredesen) has played an active role with the Aisin group since the beginning," Roberts said. "We feel it's very important for him to be part of our special day. He's involved with economic development, and I'm sure he would want to be a part of it."

Lydia Lenker, the governor's press secretary, said the Aisin plant is an example of what can be achieved when state and local officials work together to create jobs.

"From our figures, it shows that more than 70 percent of new jobs created in Tennessee in 2004 resulted from the state working with Tennessee companies to grow their business and expand their work force," Lenker said. "This announcement is a very good example of the state and local cooperation that is part of the governor's strategic vision for job creation in Tennessee."

Aisin Automotive Casting is a subsidiary of Japanese auto parts manufacturer Aisin Seiki Co. Ltd.

"Tennessee has worked for more than two decades to build relationships with the business community and Japan and these efforts have yielded strong investments and good jobs," Lenker said. "More than 40,000 Tennesseans are employed by the 160 Japanese companies doing business in Tennessee. Those Japanese companies have invested or are projected to invest some $10 billion into Tennessee's economy."

Tim Thompson, president of the Melton Hill Regional Industrial Development Association, said Aisin is in the top 10 in the world among automotive parts producers.

"It's going to be a tremendous impact on our region," Thompson said. "With an investment of $67 million and 400 employees, we hope they will double that size in the next few years."

Having Aisin is also a "great selling point" for Anderson County, Thompson said. A large manufacturer like Aisin locating in Clinton gets the attention of other companies looking for a place to locate.

"It not only impacts Anderson County, but surrounding counties because (Aisin) will draw employees within a 45-minute drive," Thompson said. "It's really a regional impact."

The new plant encompasses 280,000 square feet in the Clinton/Interstate 75 Industrial Park about a mile from the Clinton-Norris exit on Interstate 75.

State, local and federal governments contributed about $3 million in economic incentives to bring Aisin to Clinton. That includes $800,000 in jobs tax credits, $750,000 in infrastructure and training money and $500,000 in tax credits for the purchase of industrial machinery.

In addition, Clinton and Anderson County each put up $225,000 for infrastructure improvements, mostly for sewer and site grading. The city of Oak Ridge contributed $90,000 and TVA put up $300,000.