NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced the next eight Select Tennessee Certified Sites. The Select Tennessee program was launched in June 2012 with the goal of helping Tennessee communities prepare available sites for investment and expansion. The program sets a consistent and rigorous standard upon which companies can rely in making critical location decisions. To date, 34 greenfield sites have been certified and new facilities are being located at Select Tennessee Sites in Anderson, Benton, Dyer, Montgomery and Sumner Counties. The eight newest sites are:
• Airport Industrial Park, Site A: Madison County (James Lawrence Road, Jackson)
• Airport Industrial Park, Site B: Madison County (Smith Lane, Jackson)
• Cherry Glen Industrial Park: Maury County (Hwy 43/Sam Watkins Blvd., Mt. Pleasant)
• Gibson County Industrial Park, North Site: Gibson County (N Central Avenue, Humboldt)
• Gibson County Industrial Park, South Site: Gibson County (N Central Avenue, Humboldt)
• Fayetteville-Lincoln County Industrial Park, Lot 4: Lincoln County (Winchester Highway, Fayetteville)
• Team Lawrence Commerce Park, East Site: Lawrence County (US Highway 43N, Ethridge)
• Team Lawrence Commerce Park, West Site: Lawrence County (US Highway 43N, Ethridge)
“We recognize that in today’s global economy, companies are often making important site selection decisions on a tight timeline and want reassurance the site they choose presents minimal risk and allows them to be operational in the shortest possible timeframe,” Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty said. “The Select Tennessee Certified Sites program allows top decision makers to feel confident their project will move forward without any major road blocks, because their site has already been vetted and certified to international standards by world-class site selection firms Austin Consulting and The Foote Consulting Group. I congratulate all of our new Select Tennessee Certified Sites and their communities for making this valuable investment in our state’s future.”
The program acknowledges that companies looking to expand or relocate their operations often eliminate less-prepared sites and addresses this issue by ensuring sites meet a specific standard. Among the qualifications needed to become certified, a site must have at least 20 developable acres, proper zoning in place to allow for ease of development, all utilities at the site or a formal plan to extend to the site, and truck-quality road access.
A hallmark of the program is ensuring that Tennessee sites are ready for development, whether through marketing those ready for a prospect or providing guidance for uncertified sites to achieve a higher level of preparedness.
TNECD has partnered with Austin Consulting and The Foote Consulting Group to administer the program.
“When evaluating properties for our corporate clients, certified sites are often significantly easier to assess because of the level of due diligence that has been completed,” Austin Consulting Location Consultant Brandon Talbert said. “The comprehensive and detailed information available on the property allows us and our clients to make faster decisions compared to sites that haven’t gone through a formal due diligence process. Other things being equal, a certified site is viewed more favorably and generally carries less risk because most of our questions have already been answered.”
“The Select Tennessee Certified Sites program is working well. Companies and site selectors want sites that are ready to go now and over 30 sites are certified and ready now,” Deane C. Foote, Foote Consulting Group, LLC President & CEO, said. “Over five of these sites have now been sold, industrial project construction is underway and this is producing the jobs and tax base that we all want.”
There are now 34 Select Tennessee Certified Sites available in 22 different counties across the state. Communities interested in participating in the program must begin the formal application process by sending in their letter of intent. The letter of intent can be sent in by email to [email protected] at any time. An example of the letter of intent and more information about the program can be found at http://tnecd.com/apply.html.
About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
Tennessee was named “2013 State of the Year” for economic development by Business Facilities magazine. The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies which help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. The department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. Find us on the web: tn.gov/ecd. Follow us on Twitter: @tnecd. Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/tnecd.
###
