Gerdau to Expand Tennessee Operations

The steel company Gerdau has announced plans to expand its operations at the WestBridge Business Park in West Knox County, Tenn. The expansion includes construction of a facility that will apply finishing services to steel rebar manufactured at Gerdau’s Lonsdale, Tenn., mill. The facility will have a capacity of 120,000 tons of finished steel per year. This expansion represents a multimillion investment by Gerdau and will create approximately 40 new jobs.

“Gerdau’s expansion highlights how Tennessee’s ideal location, low cost of doing business and high quality workforce create the ideal environment for manufacturers to locate and expand,” said Bill Hagerty, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. “Gerdau’s confidence in Tennessee speaks highly of our business-friendly climate, and I appreciate their commitment to continued growth in Knoxville.”

Brice Wager, Gerdau’s vice president and general manager, says, “The assistance we have received from everyone at the state and county levels has been fantastic. We’re fortunate that the stars seem to have aligned. It would have been lost business if we had not been successful in this expansion; these new jobs would have been added in another state.”