Businesses in the Northeast Tennessee Valley benefit from initiatives ranging from seminars on working with Volkswagen to certifying sites as shovel-ready, courtesy of the Northeast Tennessee Valley Regional Industrial Development Association.

The April 2009 Volkswagen forum, attended by representatives of more than 150 companies, was especially important because the automaker has its own vendor certification process. Going through those steps is the only way to get business from VW, says Alicia Summers, executive director of NETVRIDA.

Automaker supply has been one of the region’s target sectors for several years, and Summers leads a regional delegation to Frankfurt, Germany, every two years for the largest trade show in the industry.

“We felt like we might be ahead of the game because we already had established relationships,” she says.

Independent site certification is another effort to stay ahead of the curve. Jack Lawson, director of economic development for the Blountville, Tenn.-based Sullivan County Partnership, says the project will help distinguish the region and make it more attractive to prospect companies.
NETVRIDA contracted with Site Selection Group of Dallas to designate sites as ready-to-build, with water, power and sewer systems in place and Phase I environmental studies completed.

The initiative is similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s certified megasite program, but on a  smaller scale. Parcels need to be at least 10 acres.

“Geographically, we're not able to put together 1,000 acres of land, but we do have smaller sites that meet the certification criteria.  This initiative will establish an inventory of sites ready for industrial use,” Summers says.

Site Selection Group has given the “shovel-ready” stamp to the first batch of about a dozen parcels, including one in Hamblen County and one in Sullivan County.

“It is an incentive,” Summers says. “You’ve saved companies time, and time is money.”