NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Pet food company Mars Petcare broke ground Tuesday morning on an $87 million regional innovation center in Williamson County.
Governor Bill Haslam, Congressman Martha Blackburn, and company leaders were on hand for the ground breaking ceremony on Tuesday in Thompson's Station.
It marks the beginning of construction on the four-building campus where Mars and the Nutro Company will create new pet food innovations for the North American market.
"A $30-billion company that has operations all over the world chose Tennessee because of a prior relationship and they see how well we've done, (it) speaks volumes," said Governor Haslam.
The new center will employ about 144 people and is expected to be finished by the end of 2013.
Mars makes pet food brands Pedigree, Whiskas, Cesar, Temptations, Nutro and Greenies and is headquartered in Williamson County, just south of Nashville.
(The Associated Press Contributed To This Report.)
