This morning Alcoa Tennessee Operations will break ground on a $275 million expansion. 

Alcoa Inc. Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld, Governor Bill Haslam, Senator Lamar Alexander and Congressman John Duncan are among the dignitaries expected to be at the ground-breaking ceremony.

The expansion will enable the plant to produce aluminum for automobiles. Automakers plan to use more aluminum in order to  improve safety, fuel efficiency and the overall performance of cars and light trucks.

The addition to the plant is expected to be finished by the middle of 2015.

Alcoa says the addition will generate more than 400construction jobs.  Alcoa will also hire an additional 200 full-time employees to operate the expansion.