Tennessee Gun Manufacturers - Gun maker Smith & Wesson Brands is moving its headquarters to Blount County, bringing $125 million and 750 jobs to East Tennessee.
The acquisition of one of the world's largest arms manufacturers is a regional and national economic victory. Tennessee is home to 20 firearms manufacturers, and Smith & Wesson's arrival in Tennessee will be No. 1. According to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, for employment in the field 1.
Tennessee Gun Manufacturers
It will close facilities in Connecticut and Missouri as part of the move. Massachusetts remains open.
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According to a news release from Smith & Wesson, workers at those facilities will be able to relocate with financial help and assistance from the company, meaning it's unclear how many jobs will be available for East Tennessee residents.
Smith & Wesson major employers DENSO Manufacturing, Clayton Homes, Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance and Arconic join Blount County's top 10 employers, according to state data.
"It's not just your mom-and-pop plant, it's really a major employer that brings a lot to the area and adds to its reputation," said Jeff Muir, a spokesman for the Blount County Chamber of Commerce.
This is Blount County's third economic development announcement of the year. Amazon said in February it would invest up to $200 million to build a warehouse in Alcoa, a project that promises 800 jobs. In April, former Jack Daniel's distiller Jeff Arnett announced that he and his partners would invest $20 million in Alcoa to start a distilling company.
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Smith & Wesson will be the only gun manufacturer in the state, Muir said. SCCY Firearms, which promised a $22.5 million investment in East Tennessee but never built its planned headquarters, pulled out of the state in September 2020.
"It reminds me of 2015, when there were four or five big announcements," Muir said.
According to statistics, there are about 8,200 production facilities in the state. If the jobs promised from the various advertisements materialize, the number could reach 10,000.
Smith & Wesson plans to build the partnership park to the north by the end of the year, and construction is expected to be completed in 2023. The 237-acre industrial park is located on Louisville Road.
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Smith & Wesson President and CEO Mark Smith said at a news conference that the company is interested in low cost of living and quality of life.
In a separate press release, Smith said the company had no choice but to leave Massachusetts, citing legislation introduced in April that would ban certain products from being manufactured there.
The provision affects more than 60 percent of the company's revenue, Smith said in a company release. Smith & Wesson did not respond to a request for comment.
Gov. Bill Lee relied on the government's authority, workers, and "commitment to the Second Amendment" to secure the deal. The state awarded the project a FastTrack economic development grant, the spokesperson said. The amount of money that will be available to the public in the coming month is determined by net new jobs, investment and average wages.
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Smith told investors on Thursday that the move would result in a small number of staff cuts, but that "we see a lot of positives." As of May, the company had 2,240 employees.
In the most recent quarter, Smith & Wesson reported net sales of $274.6 million, an increase of 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. It surpassed $1.1 billion in revenue for the first time in fiscal 2021 and shipped 2.6 million weapons.
Small Arms Analytics estimates that about 1.4 million guns were sold in the U.S. in August, a 25.4% decrease from August 2020.
Smith & Wesson is one of the world's largest producers and manufacturers of firearms, from revolvers and pistols to modern sporting rifles. Since its founding in 1852, the publicly traded Massachusetts-based company has served customers from gun enthusiasts to military organizations.
K 42 Tennessee Bean
Growth and Development Editor Brenna McDermott can be reached at brenna.mcdermott@ Follow her work on Twitter @_BrennaMcD. Support local news by becoming a Knox News subscriber. SCCY Firearms CEO Joe Roebuck announces plans to relocate and expand its Daytona Beach firearms manufacturing operations.
DAYTONA BEACH - Three years after making national headlines by announcing plans to move the company's Daytona Beach headquarters and most of its firearms production to Tennessee, the owner of SCCY Firearmsis has announced that the company will remain in Volusia County.
"I'm committed to being based in Daytona Beach, Volusia County, and growing SCCY Firearms here," said CEO Joe Roebuck, whose company name spells "heaven."
Roebuck last year leased a building in Maryville, Tennessee, where it opened a factory, but continued to lease a 21,000-square-foot building off Bill France Boulevard in Daytona Beach, where most of its manufacturing operations remain.
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Roebuck said he informed Tennessee economic officials last week of his decision to abandon plans to build a nine-family apartment complex there. It said it will close the plant at the end of October and move production equipment to Daytona Beach.
A second manufacturing plant will open in a portion of the former Costa Del Mar headquarters at Center Point Business Park on Mason Avenue. Roebuck recently agreed to lease a 20,000-square-foot space, with the option to lease additional space in the same building as his business grows.
"By the end of October, 100% of our products will be manufactured in Daytona Beach," Roebuck said. He said he hopes to add 30 more workers there, bringing his workforce to 200 by the end of the year.
Roebuck also recently paid $1.7 million to purchase an airplane hangar at the Spruce Creek Fly-In community in Port Orange.
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"I'm totally invested here," said Roebuck, who started SCCY in 2003 in a small rental building in South Daytona.
The company makes semi-automatic pistols that offer high-quality firearms, but at an affordable price, Roebuck says.
The New York native describes himself as an "inventor, designer and maker" who has created a range of products over the years, including medical devices.
A January 2020 article in Guns & Ammo describes SCCY as "(it) a leading brand in handgun carry that is changing the market every day with the release of the red dot-equipped CPX-1 RD and CPX-2 RD nine-millimeter pistols." .
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The company recently released its newest product: a lightweight 9mm semi-automatic pistol called the DVG, which stands for David vs. Goliath, Roebuck said.
The pistol retails for $289 for the standard version and $389 for the red sight. Similar pistols made by high-end brands like Sig Sauer and Springfield typically sell for $600 to $800, Roebuck said.
That new product launch, as well as increased gun sales due to the coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming presidential election, led to the SCCY order, Roebuck said. "Right now we are 10 months behind schedule.
The state of Tennessee and Blount County gave SCCY nearly $5 million in economic incentives in 2017 to persuade Roebuck to move its headquarters and most of its manufacturing operations outside of Knoxville to the Maryville area.
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Roebuck said he originally planned to build a new headquarters campus on 68 acres in Maryville with the goal of starting production in 2018. He also wanted to create 350 jobs there.
These plans have been delayed by an unexpected boom in arms sales. He decided last year to temporarily lease a 10,000-square-foot building near his planned future office "to see what it's like to do business in Tennessee."
Although economic officials in Tennessee and Blount County "made me feel very welcome right away," Roebuck said finding skilled workers was harder than he expected.
"Labor costs in Tennessee are 30% higher than here (Dayton Beach)," Roebuck said. This was due to the presence of a large manufacturer in Maryville, where the down payment was more than he could afford.
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Jeff Muir, director of communications for The Blount Partnership, an economic development group in Blount County, Tennessee, said Roebuck's decision to end operations in Maryville "came as a surprise. We had high expectations when he came here. We worked hard." helped him find employees. He paid taxes and donated to the charity (Maryville) area). I think it was the salary.
Roebuck said he "realized that losing production in Daytona Beach and moving would be too expensive.
The 68 acres of land that Blount County gave to Roebuck for its planned headquarters will be returned to the Blount partnership, Muir said.
While the economic incentives offered by Blount County and the state of Tennessee are attractive, Roebuck said, “I've never been.
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