State Funding Board approves eight Fast Track grants to support expansions across Tennessee

The Tennessee State Funding Board on Feb. 13 approved eight Fast Track economic development grants totaling about $20.9 million to support expansions by eight companies across the state, board members said at the board's meeting.

The awards were presented by Jessica Johnson, assistant commissioner at the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, who said that as of the previous meeting the Fast Track balance was $614,200,000, with new appropriations of $1,800,000 and $20,900,000 in newly deobligated funds. After transfers, prior grants and administration the adjusted Fast Track balance available was $634,900,000, Johnson said; total committed funds were $373,900,000, leaving an uncommitted balance of about $261,000,000 (58.9% committed). Today's proposed grants of $20,900,000 would, she said, bring the uncommitted balance to $240,100,000 and raise percent committed to 62.2%.

Why it matters: the grants are intended to offset capital and retrofit costs tied to growth projects that the department says will create jobs and spur private investment in multiple regions of Tennessee.

Projects approved and key details

- Aon Inc., Memphis (Shelby County). Aon selected the former American Snuff facility in Memphis for new HVAC production operations and committed to create 828 net new jobs and a $238,000,000 capital investment within five years. Average hourly wage for the positions was listed as $28.25 vs. Shelby County median wage of $21.47. Fast Track economic development grant requested: $12,000,000 to help offset building retrofit, expansion and real property acquisition costs.

- State Industries, Franklin (Williamson County). The company committed to create 35 net new jobs and a $6,700,000 capital investment within five years, with an average hourly wage of $25.25 vs. the county median $24.89. Fast Track job training assistance funds requested: $140,000 to train net new full-time employees.

- Oshkosh/JLG partnership, Jefferson City (Jefferson County) and Knoxville (Knox County). Oshkosh and JLG plan expanded telehandler production in Jefferson City (194 net new jobs; $119,000,000 capital investment; average wage $20.24 vs. county median $18.38). Separately, a 300,000-square-foot off-site distribution center in Knoxville tied to the Jefferson City operations would create 26 net new jobs and a $1,900,000 capital investment (average wage $23.34 vs. county median $20.47). Fast Track economic development grant funds of $1,500,000 were proposed for the Jefferson City project; job training assistance of $52,000 was proposed for the Knoxville distribution center.

- Topre America Corporation, Smyrna (Rutherford County). The company will add a 120,000-square-foot facility and committed to create 250 net new jobs and roughly $57,000,000 in capital investment within five years. Average hourly wage listed at $21.00 vs. county median $20.23. Fast Track grant proposed: $1,700,000 for building retrofit/expansion and related improvements.

- Weststar Aviation, Chattanooga (Hamilton County). The MRO provider committed to 200 net new jobs and a $31,800,000 capital investment within five years; average hourly wage listed at $33.93 vs. county median $20.78. Fast Track economic development grant proposed: $1,500,000 for building retrofit/expansion and new construction.

- Quanta Manufacturing Nashville LLC, La Vergne (Rutherford County). Quanta plans to retrofit an additional building to expand assembly of cloud computing racks and servers, committing to 495 net new jobs and a $50,000,000 capital investment within five years. Average hourly wage listed at $24.53 vs. county median $19.72. Fast Track funds proposed: $4,000,000 for building retrofit/expansion improvements.

- Florim USA (referred to in packet as Florham USA), Clarksville (Montgomery County). The project is an additional phase of earlier awards. The revised total grant for the company is described in the packet as $1,750,000 total across phases; today's request was for $375,000. The company committed to 52 net new jobs and an additional $40,000,000 capital investment; average hourly wage listed $22.64 vs. county median $19.39. (The department said this item revises earlier awards approved in 2021 and 2023.)

Board action and accountability

A motion and second were made to approve the eight projects as presented; board members responded by voice vote and the chair called the items approved after no member registered opposition. For the record, the board asked whether the companies had signed incentive acceptance forms, whether project checklists were complete, and whether each project includes an accountability agreement to protect the state if entities do not meet obligations. The department confirmed that checklists had been completed and that accountability agreements are in place for each project.

Votes at a glance

All eight Fast Track projects: approved by voice vote; no opposition recorded in the meeting transcript. (Individual roll-call tallies were not specified in the public transcript.)

What the meeting did not decide

The board did not set additional conditions in the meeting record beyond requiring accountability agreements and the usual paperwork; specific enforcement steps or deadlines beyond the five-year job/capital commitments were not discussed in detail on the record.

Next steps

The department's representatives presented the projects and said they will proceed with the administrative steps required to finalize awards and agreements. The board moved on to acknowledge other routine items later in the agenda.