Tennessee Governor tours Maryville DENSO plant

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee toured DENSO Manufacturing’s facility on Middlesettlements Road Thursday, July 11, alongside local elected officials and members of the press. Company representatives walked him through the group’s production process and demonstrated technologies developed within the plant.

Outside the factory floor, Lee said he valued DENSO’s effect on the local economy. Tennessee. He said, is starting to stand out in its skilled labor workforce.

“The state with the workers wins every time,” he said.

Standing alongside State Rep. Jerome Moon and Maryville Mayor Andy White, he praised DENSO’s commitment to growing the skilled workforce in Tennessee. The company, which boasts a crew of around 5,000, trains its employees in multiple levels of manufacturing to put out the electronic components that go into products in fields like the automotive industry.

Tennessee is emerging as one of the leaders in the automotive industry in the southeast, Lee said. Those employers are bringing with them training that can revolutionize the life of young people entering the workforce.

“The people out there on that floor have attained the skills to give them an opportunity to enhance their life,” he said. “There are companies moving here from around the globe, and they’re creating that opportunity for life-changing skills.”