Leggett & Platt Inc., parent company of Modern Industries, LLC, recently announced an expansion of Modern Industries in Chattanooga. The expansion is anticipated to bring in 146 new full-time jobs within three years and represents an investment of $10.2 million in machinery, equipment and facility improvements.

This expansion at Modern Industries is consistent with Leggett & Platt’s announcement last year to restructure its manufacturing footprint in North America. Many of the new jobs to be introduced at Modern Industries will be transferred from a Leggett & Platt facility in Ohio that is scheduled for consolidation. Modern Industries currently employs 225 people at its main facility in Lookout Valley.

The new operation will be located in the former Lookout Knitting facility, also in Lookout Valley. Leggett and Platt is in the process of moving equipment and machinery from Ohio to the new Lookout Valley facility.

Modern Industries primarily makes wire frames and seat components for the automotive seating market. Modern Industries supplies product for a wide range of vehicles manufactured in North America. Modern Industries’ direct customers include Johnson Controls, Woodbridge Foam and Lear Seating.

"Leggett & Platt has made a strategic decision to grow our Chattanooga facility,” said Jeff McCay, general manager of Modern Industries. “Our company has expressed a tremendous amount of confidence in our workforce, and we are proud to play a key role in Leggett & Platt’s continued growth in the automotive market.”

In 1989 Modern Industries Inc. was incorporated as a wire-forming venture. Since then welded assemblies, springs and tubular products have been added to the company’s manufacturing capabilities.

In 1994 Modern Industries Inc. moved from a downtown Chattanooga location to its current location in Lookout Valley. Ten years later, Modern Industries Inc. joined the automotive division of Leggett & Platt Inc. to become Modern Industries LLC.

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