LOUDON
(WATE) - An Italian floor tile manufacturer cut the ribbon Wednesday
on its new factory in Loudon County, located on a 30-acre site at
the Sugarlimb Industrial Park in Loudon.
The company has already hired more than a hundred workers with plans to add many more.
Del Conca Tile has been manufacturing and importing so much ceramic tile to the United States for 25 years that it decided to open a facility here.
"We felt it was time to start producing here so that we can better serve our clients and expand our position in the market," said Paolo Mularone, president of Del Conca USA.
He says there were many factors that drew them to build the new 320,000 square foot facility in Loudon.
"Loudon County and Tennessee is a geographically central for the sourcing of the raw materials, and we also found it was very well logistically situated as it's close to the highways," he said.
The company has already completed phase one of hiring filling both administrative and factory jobs.
"Here we are employing 100 people and we have plans to expand this facility in our phase two that we hope will happen in a few years. In that phase we will go up to 175 people," Mularone said.
The company has already begun limited production and expects to be in full production in the next few months.
Del Conca has already invested $78 million in the Loudon facility and plans to invest nearly $20 million more over the next five to six years.