Custom Tool in Cookeville is planning to expand it’s operations after being approved for a $1.1 Million loan by UCDD.
Custom Tool President Gillen Young said adding more equipment is the first step in ramping up the company to be ready when the economy recovers.
“This opportunity to grow is helping us to drive the capital that we need,” Young said. “That’s gonna create new jobs in this area for us as we execute on our strategy.”
Vice President Bob Young said that the steps after adding equipment would be expanding to make room for new equipment. Young said that despite integrating automation, skilled workers are needed to keep equipment running and maintaining quality control.
“Our customers hold us to standards and quality standards and things like that, that do require a lot of oversight,” Bob Young said. “As we continue to add parts that we produce and customers as well, supporting that is going to be one of the driving factors that allows us to create some more opportunities from an employment standpoint.”
Gillen Young said he believes there has been a fundamental change in the supply chain, in part due to COVID. Young said Custom Tool is seeing an opportunity to manufacture parts in the United States at a level he has not seen before.
“That is part of what is driving our growth opportunities and why we were at the UCDD as one of the avenues to get the capital that we need to expand,” Young said. “In our business it’s very capital intensive, so we have to have the equipment and the space and more importantly, the people and the skilled labor to operate these very advanced machines.”
Gillen Young said he expects to close on the $1.1 million in funding through UCDD in mid-November. Young said the funding allows the opportunity to grow jobs in 2021.
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