$28M Meco Expansion To Add 67 Jobs

BY SPENCER MORRELL

STAFF WRITER

Meco Corp., a local manufacturing company that specializes in producing metal charcoal and electric grills, will be expanding its operations locally.

The announcement was made during a ceremony

Wednesday morning in front of the Meco plant on Industrial Road.

With the help of a FastTrack Job Training Assistance Program grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the Greeneville manufacturer will add 67 jobs and invest $27.8 million to expand its Greeneville headquarters.

Founded in 1959, Meco Corp. has manufactured steel folding furniture, step stools, OEM components and barbecue grills. The company has manufactured millions of grills in Greeneville.

“Meco Corporation has called Tennessee home for more than 60 years,

State Releases District 3rd Grade ELA Test Results

BY AMY ROSE STAFF WRITER

Numbers released Wednesday by the Tennessee Department of Education show 65% of students in Greene County and 54% of students in Greeneville are below or approaching proficiency in third grade English Language Arts (ELA) achievement test scores.

According to the controversial Tennessee Learning Loss Remediation and Student Acceleration Act, also known as the Third Grade Retention Law, this high percentage of students will have to meet certain requirements or repeat third grade, based on their scores on the annual Tennessee Comprehensive Achievement Program (TCAP) tests administered in April.

On Monday, the department released statewide averages for third grade TCAP ELA scores, highlighting historic gains in third grade reading, rather than focusing on the 60% of students across the state who did not meet proficiency.

The department also shared multiple pathways to support student promotion to fourth grade.

On Friday, May 19, individual student ELA scores for third graders were shared with Tennessee school districts, which are responsible for communicating with families about their student’s score and pathways to fourth grade promotion, including the TCAP retake opportunity, parent appeal free summer camp and/or tutoring in the upcoming school year.

and we are proud that the company has chosen to expand in the Volunteer State. We appreciate Meco for its continued investment and job creation in Greeneville, which will make a significant impact in Northeast Tennessee,” Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter said in a press release. McWhorter also attended Wednesday morning’s