Tennessee Creates Favorable Climate for Business
Published Jul 15, 2009
Since taking office in January 2003, Gov. Phil Bredesen’s strategic focus of creating “higher skilled, better paying jobs” has yielded remarkable results for Tennessee.
With leadership from Commissioner Matt Kisber, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has helped spearhead a pro-business environment and an enviable record of new investment, expansion and job creation.
Since spring of 2008, Tennessee has been cited as the nation’s most competitive state for business, the second-best for business climate and the most improved state for development. From July 2008 through February 2009 alone, Tennessee landed more than $3 billion in new investment.
In the last five years, companies have invested $27 billion in capital and created 167,000 new jobs – two-thirds of them from expansion of existing business. Tennessee also attracted 43 corporate headquarters in that time.
Site Selection magazine in November 2008 ranked Tennessee as the second-best business location in the United States, up from No. 7 in 2007. Site Selection also ranked Tennessee No. 1 among U.S. states in its coveted 2008 competitiveness rankings, in part because of the state’s regulatory climate, existing workforce skills and transportation infrastructure.
Volkswagen is building a $1 billion assembly operation in Chattanooga that will create 2,000 direct jobs and 9,400 indirect jobs. Asurion, the cell phone insurance provider, is spending another $100 million and adding 800 more jobs in Nashville over the next five years.
A report released in June 2009 by the Pew Charitable Trusts named Tennessee one of the top three states nationally for clean-energy job creation. In March 2008, German-based Wacker Chemie chose Bradley County for a $1 billion facility to make a primary component used in the manufacture of solar panels and semiconductors, a project expected to create more than 500 jobs. Hemlock Semiconductor, the world’s largest maker of polysilicon for the solar industry, selected Montgomery County for a silicon plant, an investment that could top $2 billion and create 900 jobs.
Whether it’s promoting enhanced standards for high school graduation, offering competitive incentives or providing a bevy of resources. The stage is set for success. Tennessee has created an inviting atmosphere to spur even more business growth and new investment.
Tennessee invites you to experience what everyone is talking about. For more information, contact:
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
312 Rosa L. Parks Ave., 11th Floor
Nashville, TN 37243
(615) 741-1888
tnecd.gov
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