Program Offers Incentives for Job Investments
Published Apr 07, 2005
FastTrack racecar
When Allegro Fine Foods outgrew its existing facilities in Henry County, company officers began preparing for a move. In fact, plans were in full swing to pack up and outsource production and jobs to a company in North Carolina.
But that was before Allegro got on the FastTrack.
“Local and state officials partnered to help us create 30 jobs by expanding our operations here in Tennessee,” says John Fuqua, president of Allegro, which produces one of the nation’s top-selling meat marinades.
“Because we were able to utilize FastTrack funds, we could convert an existing manufacturing facility to one we could use to meet our production needs – and keep our business and jobs in Tennessee,” Fuqua says.
FastTrack continues to be an essential tool for driving the state to its goal of creating higher-paying and better-skilled jobs for Tennesseans. The program guarantees a response within three days of a business inquiry and a custom job-training package within five days of receiving a written commitment on a jobs investment. But FastTrack has proven to provide much more than quick answers.
“Gov. Bredesen and I realize that in the world of business, time is as key a component as money,” says Economic and Community Development Commis-sioner Matthew Kisber. “The FastTrack initiative has proven successful at capitalizing on both aspects.”
“We are positioning Tennessee to be competitive in the race for jobs through business friendliness, quick and easy access to information, infrastructure improvement and training assistance,” Kisber adds. “FastTrack has been an instrumental tool in our success because both companies and communities recognize it as evidence that we value theirs.”
Tom Mottern of the Claiborne County Industrial Development Board agrees.
“Simply put, the program allows us to get the job done in a timely way by bringing together all the competing and contributing entities to present one impressive package,” Mottern says. “This has been an important key to our success in Claiborne County.”
When companies consider Tennessee, the FastTrack incentive programs stand out among the advantage proposals presented by ECD. In fact, FastTrack was an important factor in attracting the headquarters operations of Louisiana-Pacific.
“The FastTrack programs for infrastructure development and training were very influential in Louisiana-Pacific’s decision to locate to Nashville,” says Hugh Donnelly, corporate facilities manager. “The assistance from these programs saved our company significant expense in relocation.”
Job training also was important to AMSEA, a Michigan-based auto parts supplier with two plants in Greeneville.
“FastTrack brought the hands-on training our workers needed to succeed in our company as opposed to requiring that the training be done in a classroom setting,” says Scott Dinger, AMSEA president. “This, along with many other qualities, made the decision to bring more facilities to Tennessee an easy one.”
Story by Jessica L. Johnson
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