Magazine Awards TDECD Top Honors
Published Apr 07, 2003
Staying competitive in an aggressive marketplace is no easy task.
It means being smart and innovative – doing the right things and getting the right results.
It’s also a way of life for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, which took top honors for effective competitiveness with a new award presented by industry leader Site Selection magazine.
ECD earned the Competitiveness Award, created to recognize the best-of-the-best state economic development agencies. Each was ranked based on 10 criteria for measuring business expansion activity and investments in the previous calendar year.
Tennessee landed on top, setting a new benchmark for economic development.
“This award clearly demonstrates that we take economic development very seriously,” says Matt Kisber, ECD commissioner. “This recognizes that the state’s investment in education and highways, along with our department’s investments in workforce development and infrastructure, makes a complete package that is attractive for job recruiting and job retention.”
According to Site Selection editor Mark Arend, the recent change in state leadership did not affect ECD’s effectiveness.
“By all accounts, a smooth transition of economic development teams took place in that both teams share a commitment to building existing industry and to attracting new businesses, particularly in the fast-growing life sciences sector,” he says.
In 2002, the state announced $150 million in new investments in biotech companies, including the relocation of BioMimetic Pharmaceuticals Inc. to Franklin and Cell Genesys’ lease of a 35,000-square-foot facility in Memphis for the manufacture of lung cancer vaccines.
Story by Sharyn Matthews
Current Weather Conditions In Nashville, TN (37243)
Fog, and 48 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
