Takahata Featured on FOX
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Takahata Featured on FOX
Scott County plant produces famous Pilot G2 Ink Pen
By Shane Gilreath
For decades, companies around the globe have relied on a small piece of everyday office equipment that, unbeknownst to them, has origins here in Scott County. That piece of equipment is the Pilot G2 ink pen – black, to be exact – born of a company that demands perfection. The Pilot Corporation, who produces a variety of writing instruments, stationary, and, yes, even jewelry, is a Japanese pen manufacturing company, steeped in tradition, headquartered in Tokyo, a city that might seem a literal world away from Scott County. According to Mike Slaven, President of Takahata Precision Tennessee, Inc, the Helenwood-based plant has been manufacturing part of the pen for a couple of years, but now the company’s achievements have brought them national prominence and a feature on Fox Business Network, Manufacturing Marvels.
“Our local industries thrive because of the innovation, dedication, and craftsmanship of businesses like Takahata Precision,” said Stacey Swann, Executive Director of the Scott County Chamber of Commerce. “For years, Takahata has been a driving force in precision manufacturing, providing high-quality solutions that serve industries both locally and globally.”
A part of that operation is the Pilot G2 pen with 4 of the 7 parts of the instrument being made in Scott County. From Helenwood, they’re ultimately shipped to Jacksonville, Florida for final assembly and mass production for the US market. According to Slaven, Takahata Precision produces an astonishing 1.5 million black ink pens per month.
“Takahata was 100% automotive for twenty years, mainly geared toward gasoline vehicles” Slaven told SCN. But, says Slaven, when electric vehicles became the fashion, the company knew that they’d have to turn a corner and find new products that could be manufactured in Tennessee. But it wasn’t as easy as that. Pilot has a reputation for perfection and the company certainly wanted to maintain that if they were bound for American shores. As a result, they visited between 7 or 8 different facilities here in America before choosing Takahata. It was an honor to be chosen, Slaven relayed to SCN, because Pilot had never let anyone outside their own company manufacture their products.
That Scott County-based Takahata was the chosen plant doesn’t seem to surprise many locals, however. “Their commitment to excellence has not only helped advance technology,” Swann said, “but has also created valuable job opportunities and contributed to the economic strength of our community.”
It’s those values that brought them to the attention of FOX, which featured the company during a segment of Manufacturing Marvels that aired on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. The mission of the show, as always, was to showcase American manufacturing and the spirit of ingenuity, offering an inside look at the industries that shape America and the massive impacts they leave in their wake.
“Takahata’s feature on Manufacturing Marvels is a testament to the talent and resilience of our local manufacturing sector,” Swann said in a statement. “When we support and uplift one another, we create a foundation for long-term success and continued growth.”
Takahata Precision Tennessee owes much of its success to former Senator Howard Baker. This all transpired as Tennessee’s Howard Baker served as Ambassador to Japan. Always a champion of Scott County, legends says Baker worked his magic to bring the Japanese company to the American South, telling the Japanese giant that he had just the place for them to locate their facility in the United States.
