Gunmaker relocates
IWI US investing $15.7M, bringing 72 jobs to Andersonville
This is the location on Mountain Road in Andersonville where an Israeli-owned gunmaker will relocate its headquarters and manufacturing plant from Pennsylvania, creating 72 jobs. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The company is relocating its U.S. operations from Pennsylvania to a building it purchased earlier this year at 1485 Mountain Road to “manufacture, produce and assemble” handguns, and distribute accessories for them, including night-vision sights.
The announcement, released by the state Department of Economic and Community Development, noted that IWI US, Inc., was founded in 2012 and specializes in manufacturing firearms for the commercial, law enforcement and government markets.
“The relocation to Anderson County and expanded operations ultimately position the company in better proximity to its customer base nationwide,” the announcement said.
In February, IWI received approval from the Anderson County Board of Zoning Appeals for a zoning variance on the building, just east of U.S. 441 (Norris Freeway), south of Andersonville Highway (Tennessee 62).
The building was owned by MLilly USA, Inc., a China-based mattress manufacturer.
The company said then that it would invest about $20 million in the project and bring about 80 new jobs, according to Andy Wallace, president of the Anderson County Economic Development Agency.
“This is an Israeli-owned company that produces handguns for the private market,” Wallace said. “They manufacture handguns for the consumer market in the U.S.”
The BZA variance also brought permission for the company to store imported night-vision sights that contain the radioactive material tritium, also known as radioactive hydrogen.
Its website says its U.S. operations are now based near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in Lower Swatara Township.
The L-shaped building on the north side of Mountain Road has about 114,000 square feet of space. It was purchased by MLilly on Oct. 28, 2020, for just under $6 million, according to Anderson County property records.
It’s less than a half-mile from the Clayton Homes factory, which sits on the south side of Mountain Road to the west.
Wallace said the company did not need the property to be rezoned, but did need a variance for the use it’s proposing.
“They’re asking for an exception for something that’s already going on in that [industrial] park,” he said.
Although tritium is also used in the manufacture of atomic bombs, the miniscule amounts used in the gun sights are safe, Wallace said.
The company will not be handling bulk tritium at the plant; it will only be a component of gun sights made elsewhere and stored in the building, he added.
East Tennessee has recently seen an influx of firearms and ammunition manufacturers moving here from Northern states where they are increasingly facing anti-gun legislation and restrictions.
“Tennessee is now the No. 1 state for firearm and ammo production,” Wallace said.
