Athenry based industrial manufacturing firm CF Group is set to create 450 jobs in its first US based manufacturing plant in Tennessee, writes Fiona Reddan.

The move will involve an investment of $12.5 million (€ 8.7 million) over four years, and will see C&F set up in a former Fiat factory in Kingsport, in Tennessee. According to Tom Hyland, president of C&F Manufacturing USA, the company reviewed more than 20 locations in the US before opting for Kingsport. This followed an 18-month lobbying campaign from local and state authorities, including a trip by economic and community development commissioner Bill Hagerty to Ireland to discuss the company’s plans. The US operation will manufacture products for three C&F Group divisions – automotive exterior trim components, data management and renewable energy industries. C&F Group was set up in 1989 by Michael Carr and John Flaherty, who won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2008.