German company set for Bradley County is Wacker

Munich-based conglomerate has been ramping up polysilicon production

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse and Geert De Lombaerde

UPDATE 7:59 a.m.: Gov. Phil Bredesen's office has issued a news release confirming Wacker's plans. The company will spend $1 billion on the plant northeast of Cleveland. There is no firm date for construction to begin, but Wacker said "there will be an extensive design period and work in process" before dirt starts being moved.

To read the release, click here.

As originally reported:

Sources tell NashvillePost.com that the German chemical company slated to build a plant near Chattanooga that will employ more than 500 people is Wacker, a Munich-based conglomerate with $5.5 billion in annual sales.

The company will be unveiled Thursday morning at a ceremony outside Cleveland, Tenn. NashvillePost.com first reported news of the pending deal mid-day Wednesday.

Wacker has been aggressively expanding its capacity to produce polysilicon, the primary material used in solar panels. Last October, officials announced they will build a $970 million, 450-job factory in Nünchritz near Dresden. A month later, they launched a $380 million expansion – the seventh at its plant in Burghausen on the Austrian border – that will create 270 jobs.

The company also has been ramping up elsewhere. It broke ground in Allentown, Pa., last November on a new North American HQ for its Wacker Polymers division.