Services Available for Businesses of All Sizes
Published Apr 07, 2003
Joe Brandon, assistant commissioner of ECD’s Business Services Division, works hard to ensure that new and expanding Tennessee companies have the capital and workforce they need to thrive.
“We couldn’t have made it without the state, and that’s genuine and heartfelt,” declares Michael Cherry, president and chief executive officer of Winchester-based TKA Plastics, a supplier of interior automotive parts for dashboards and seats.
Cherry is referring to the varied assistance available through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s Business Services Division. Designed to nurture the success of new, expanding and existing industries statewide, Business Services is a one-stop shop answering needs as broad as business tax information, employee recruitment and screening, training, and even financing to encourage entrepreneurship.
Cherry founded TKA in 1996, and today the company employs 125 in the 52,000-square-foot facility. A grant from ECD to the community helped with the initial infrastructure that TKA required; then additional ECD loans financed start-up costs, including equipment purchases. “ECD came in and helped do some surveys, then told us the services they provide and how they could help meet our needs,” Cherry recalls. “The state even helped with interviewing and office space to conduct those interviews.”
Joe Brandon, Business Services assistant commissioner, says the kind of help TKA received is par for the course. The division offers tailor-made assistance to ensure no needed service is overlooked, whether the client is launching a new operation or expanding. He notes that most new jobs come from expansions of existing businesses.
“We need to be more supportive of existing businesses, and we think we’re moving in the right direction to do that, particularly when we’re in a slow economy,” he says.
A prime example of that philosophy in action is the decision in 2002 by Brunswick Boat Group to locate its world headquarters in downtown Knoxville. A leader in the manufacture of pleasure boats, Brunswick has nearly 8,000 employees and 21 operations worldwide. Three of those manufacturing plants, as well as the world headquarters of the group’s Sea Ray Division, were already in the Knoxville area, boasting a combined workforce of more than 1,500. The addition of the Brunswick Boat Group world headquarters meant the relocation of 75 professionals to Knoxville and the hiring of 25 additional employees.
The company’s strong presence in the area for nearly 25 years was one reason officials chose Knoxville as the headquarters site.
“Much of the infrastructure for the Brunswick Boat Group was already located in Knoxville, including our information technology, finance and legal functions,” says President Dustan E. McCoy. “As a result, locating in Knoxville resulted in minimum disruption to our ongoing activities.” McCoy adds that Knoxville’s quality of life made it an “ideal” choice.
To help seal the deal, ECD’s Business Services offered $1 million in training for Brunswick and Sea Ray employees, who learned computer skills and the operation of new high-tech factory equipment.
“The top issues when you talk to companies about why they expand or why they locate in a particular area are related to the availability of labor and whether that workforce is trained or trainable,” Brandon says. “Companies now, because of the sophistication of the manufacturing process, must have people who are cognizant of the basic principles of manufacturing, statistical process control and math applications as well as people skills and the ability to manage people. Training is a tremendously important piece, not only in the location and expansion process, but also the retention process. People must have the skills necessary to allow that company to compete internationally. We are in a global, competitive environment.”
There’s another reason why Business Services banks on training.
“If you put money into people and the development of their education, that’s an asset that’s not easily taken away,” Brandon says. “The knowledge that people gain through a training process is something they can take to the next employer and the next employer. It’s a very good investment, from the state’s perspective. We put money in a resource that’s going to stay here.”
Investing in the potential of people is the business of Memphis-based Banks and Holeyfield Management Co., a longtime ECD partner. This multifaceted company manages real estate holdings, offers technical assistance to fledgling businesses, operates a venture capital enterprise and community bank, and manages the operations of the Memphis Job Corps Center. Through Banks and Holeyfield, ECD has made more than $1.2 million available as loans to minority businesses. Launched in 2000, Ashaun LLC is one success story. This call center received two loans, both for $204,500, to finance its substantial start-up costs. On a smaller scale, the franchise Dry Cleaning to Your Door is doing a booming business, thanks to $25,000 to buy a van and for initial working capital.
Explains Mabra Holeyfield, “ECD has allowed us to assist a number of businesses that otherwise wouldn’t have had an opportunity to get started or to maintain their operations.”
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
Photo by Greg Emens
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