Memphis pulled out all the stops, from Rudy Gay to a strolling jazz musician at the Peabody Skyway, to announce that Mitsubishi Electric will build electric transformers at a new $200 million plant south of downtown.
Brian Heery, president of Mitsubishi Power Products, said the transformers will supply U.S. factories and electric utilities. Two current customers are MLG&W and TVA.
He said the 350,000 square-foot facility will employ 90 people to start, then build up to around 275 “very good-paying jobs.” The majority of them, he said, will be hired in Memphis.
“It’s fair to say that Memphis is on a roll,” said Gov. Bill Haslam, who was joined at the announcement by Gay, mayors Wharton and Luttrell, former U.S. Senator Howard Baker, and various officials from the chamber of commerce and state department of economic development.