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Regional economic leaders highlight investment, jobs and the need to align workforce training
Summary
Three regional economic-development officials described a new manufacturer’s planned site, subsequent infrastructure work and growth figures, and urged aligning workforce development to local employer demand.
Marsha Mills, director of economic and community development for the city of Tiptonville and director of the Tiptonville Main Street program, said the arrival of a planned manufacturer has driven recent infrastructure work and heightened the stakes for local planning. “For us, economic development means keeping us from extinction,” Mills said.
Mills recalled that Governor Lee announced Sonova Silicon would locate at the Lake County Industrial Park at Cates-Landen and said the community has completed water, sewer and gas-line improvements to prepare for that investment. She thanked local, state and federal partners and singled out the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development for its assistance to Lake County.
Patrick Cammack, senior vice president of economic development for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, said a healthy local economy requires industry diversity and jobs that allow residents to build careers close to home. “To us, economic development means a diverse economy with companies in many different industries and great opportunities for residents to have great careers here at home,” Cammack said.
Travis Groth, vice president for economic development with the Murray Alliance, detailed recent growth tied to sustained development efforts. Groth said the area has realized more than 30% population growth, 60% growth in median household income and over 80% growth in retail sales, driven in part by roughly 6,800 new jobs and nearly $6 billion in direct investment from more than 40 economic-development project wins. He also noted the development of three publicly owned sites and the sale of two speculative buildings.
Looking ahead, Groth said local economic development should focus on aligning workforce-development resources with employer demand and embedding efforts within local stakeholder vision and values. “Looking forward, local economic development will be enhanced by aligning workforce development resources with local employer demand, and intentionally framing economic development efforts within local stakeholder vision and values,” he said.
The remarks were delivered as brief presentations outlining recent project wins, public- and private-sector partnerships and priorities for future economic and workforce planning.
