Hennessy Industries, a La Vergne-based maker of wheel weights, balancers and related parts, has contracted with a New Jersey export management company to help it build a book of business in East Asia and the Pacific Rim. Hockman-Lewis has a staff of about 10 traveling salespeople who represent more than 20 manufacturers from all over the world.

Sekisui Plastics will build a second plant in Mt. Pleasant that is expected to create 25 jobs in the coming four years. The project for the maker of foamed plastic products is valued at $3 million.

“After years of success with our Mt. Pleasant facility and with the available, qualified workforce in Maury County, it was an easy decision to expand Sekisui Plastics in Mt. Pleasant,” Robert Voytko, vice president of operations control, Sekisui Plastics, said. “We look forward to continually growing in Tennessee.”

Barclays Capital analyst Brian Johnson says investors should pile into shares of car makers and their suppliers despite the lingering supply-chain uncertainties. The industry's fundamentals are solid, he says, and manufacturers are able to hike prices. That bodes well for Tennessee's 40,000-employee automotive manufacturing sector, which comprises Nissan, GM and Volkswagen as well as more than 900 suppliers.