A Winning Strategy Lands Two Huge Projects for 22-County SEIDA Region
Published Jan 13, 2010
Money talks, and the billions being spent by foreign companies in the Southeast Industrial Development Association’s 22-county service area these days speak with a loud and complimentary voice.
As the new home of Volkswagen and Wacker Chemie AG, two of the largest foreign direct investments ever in Tennessee, the region has become the focal point not only for large-scale manufacturing efforts, but for the suppliers and other smaller businesses that feed them.
And the rooftops are following the new industrial investment, as construction workers and permanent employees move in, a boon to restaurant, retail and other consumer sectors.
“We are in an excellent position to market and showcase the assets of our region,” says Kathy Johnson, assistant director of economic development for the Southeast Industrial Development Association, or SEIDA.
In 2008 alone, SEIDA’s efforts helped facilitate 10 locations, 16 expansions, $1.3 billion in new capital investment and creation of more than 5,900 jobs. Those efforts were capped by German-based Wacker’s plans for a $1 billion solar energy-related facility in Bradley County, Tenn. Volkswagen is well under way building a $1 billion manufacturing complex in Chattanooga that is spurring millions of additional dollars in investments and will create hundreds of jobs.
IVC US Inc., the U.S. operations of Belgium-based IVC Group, will invest some $70 million to construct a 520,000-square-foot facility in Dalton, Ga., its first in the United States. When production begins in 2011, the plant will produce 5,000 sheet miles of vinyl floor coverings each year and create 115 jobs.
“We have a fabulous workforce, a lot of available sites for facilities to move into, low-cost, reliable power and a great network of regional partners who have learned how to focus on regional economic development that’s benefiting all of us,” Johnson says.
Those business advantages coupled with a strong air, rail and ground transportation system, are generating inquiries throughout the region from companies seeking to capitalize on Volkswagen now, Wacker in the future and the area in general.
“We promote our geographic location in general and certainly in relation to the Enterprise South Industrial Park, where Volkswagen is under construction,” says Jack Hammontree, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the McMinn County Economic Development Authority. “We’re in the center of eastern Tennessee, and at a midpoint between Chattanooga and Knoxville. We’re adjacent to Interstate 75, but also close to other interstates and two major metro-area airports as well.”
Proximity to major development is one of many strong points being promoted in and around Dalton, which has seen significant retrenching and retooling in its signature carpet industry in recent years, says Brian Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce.
“When you’ve got two billion-dollar projects just north of you, that will drive change,” Anderson says. “North Georgia is already experiencing residential growth as a result of people wanting to live here, but work in Tennessee, and we know that retail and commercial development will continue to follow that.”
The carpet industry has made capital investments in equipment so it can produce more with fewer people, Anderson says, but companies are targeting the region for their growth plans.
“We have not allowed them to slip away,” he says. “We’re creating work within our existing industries, as well as seeking new investment in the area.”
A regional approach to economic development, Johnson says, has led not only to the major projects coming to the area, but also to dozens of other relocations and expansions and billions in capital investment.
“Now we are helping smaller companies capitalize on the investment of these larger companies,” she says. “Our communities have taken the opportunity to invest in their sites and facilities they are stepping up to become critical players in the economic development and marketing arena.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Jeff Adkins
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