GZ Media has opened its third pressing plant in America - in Nashville

06/2022

Loděnice, CR / Nashville, USA – June 28, 2022 – The largest record producer in the world, the Czech company GZ Media, has opened its third record pressing plant on the North American continent. In the Nashville Record Pressing (NRP) production plant in the American state of Tennessee, it invested fully from its own resources, amounting to more than 1.3 million USD. It wants to create 255 new jobs within two years.

NRP is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Czech GZ Media, headquartered in the Czech Republic. The factory is equipped with brand new and best-in-class equipment and infrastructure, making it highly competitive globally.
The North American continent was very important for GZ Media already at the time when gramophone records started to come back into fashion. To this day, it is the main outlet for vinyls, the demand for which is still growing. Every fourth gramophone record currently sold in the world comes from the Czech company GZ Media. In addition to the new factory in Nashville, USA, the company also has a pressing plant Memphis Record Pressing in Memphis and Precision Record Pressing in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Both existing factories are continuously increasing their capacity. The new Nashville Record Pressing, which plans to produce 85,000 records a day in its first year, has the same ambition.
“We are grateful for the support we have received from the state of Tennessee and the warm welcome to Music City, as Nashville, USA is nicknamed. We're here to become the local favorite vinyl pressing company," comments CEO Drake Coker on the opening of the new factory.
The Czech investment is also welcomed by the local Commissioner for Economic and Community Development Bob Rolfe and other leading representatives of the state of Tennessee. “Our strong business climate, skilled workforce and quality of life ensure that global companies can excel in Tennessee. Thank you to Nashville Record Pressing for investing in Davidson County and creating more jobs for local residents,” says Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. The Czech ambassador to the USA, Mr. Hynek Kmoníček, also attended the opening ceremony.
Through ongoing investments, the GZ Media group increases the number of records produced in the long term. "Last year we produced 56.5 million vinyls in all our factories, within two years we want to increase production to 140 million pieces per year thanks to the new American plants," adds Zdeněk Pelc, the majority owner of the company.
"The different approach of American and Czech politicians to business is also very interesting. At the event of the opening of the factory where it is an investment of approx. 20 mil. USD and the creation of 250 new jobs, the governor of the state of Tennessee sent his representative and the mayor of the city of Nashville was personally present, as well as other representatives of other state organizations. On the other hand, in the Czech Republic, where we employ over 2,000 people, I have not seen a district representative in over 20 years, and never a regional representative in 30 years", adds Zdeněk Pelc.


 
From Lefto: Brian Macdonald, Project Engineer , Shawn Johnson, prezident GZ America, Drake Cocker, CEO NRP, Randy Parker, Viktor Adamec, Michal Štěrba, CEO GZ Media, Zdeněk Pelc, owner of GZ Media

John Cooper, Mayor of Nashville (left) with Commissioner Bob Rolf (right) and Drake Cocker (back)

The opening ceremony was also attended by the Czech ambassador to the USA, Mr. Hynek Kmoníček (left) 

NRP plant in Nashville