Chattanooga company plans to add 250 jobs

photo Don Lepard
photo File photo: Robert Edwards, right, and Jim Meyer install lights at Coolidge Park that use energy-efficient induction lights designed and manufactured by Global Green Lighting in Soddy-Daisy.

Global Green Lighting plans to hire up to 250 people in Chattanooga to build the company's innovative street lighting system.

The move is creating jobs locally by bringing production back from China, said Don Lepard, the company's chief executive.

Lepard said the company has moved into about 180,000 square feet of space in Hixson, a site that formerly held the Chattanooga Group.

Plans are to ramp up his assembly line and have about 100 people on board by mid-summer.

Gov. Bill Haslam said in a statement that having "a strong technology infrastructure and supporting a culture of innovation will help us continue to attract companies like GGL and reach our goal of becoming the No. 1 state in the Southeast for high quality jobs."

Lepard said his company will initially produce about 6,000 lights for the city of Chattanooga, with plans to make 27,000 street lights.

"GGL is an excellent example of how innovation drives economic development," said Bill Hagerty, the state commissioner for economic and community development, in a news release.

See Wednesday's Times Free Press for full story.

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