ABB 2006/7 | State Profiles | South East region | Tennessee

In 2005, California’s Milken Institute named Tennessee the 11th best state in the US for business climate and listed Tennessee as having the fifth lowest tax burden in the country. Tennessee has neither a state income tax nor a state property tax. However, much of its success can also be attributed to a strategic effort to streamline red tape and build co-operation between state and local governments through an entity known as the Jobs Cabinet.

Made up of commissioners from seven state agencies and leading thinkers in higher education and business, the Jobs Cabinet is unique to Tennessee. The beauty of the concept is its simplicity: put all those who can help create jobs at the same table and make job creation their top priority. One offshoot of the Jobs Cabinet is Tennessee’s FastTrack programme, The programme aims for a 72- hour response to local government applications for job training grants or infrastructure requests.

In the last two years, companies like International Paper, Caremark, Asurion and Louisiana Pacific have decided to make Tennessee their corporate home, joining the likes of Federal Express, HCA and Eastman Chemical. Tennessee is also home to more than 500 internationally-owned companies, including 350 European firms.

Tennessee is also focusing on technology and the ability to give business the access to broadband infrastructure it needs. As part of the $20m dollar Jobs Bill, the state has expanded the definition of infrastructure eligible for state infrastructure grants to include broadband. In addition, Tennessee is leading the way in the development of a statewide technology strategy with the implementation of the Innovation Road Map, a guide to connecting business to groundbreaking research and development currently underway in technology centres like Oak Ridge National Lab, the University of Tennessee, Vanderbilt University and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

In addition, 2006 will see the opening of the Spallation Neutron Source Lab in Oak Ridge, TN where research in areas like nanotechnology will be possible. At the core of Tennessee’s success is a remarkably productive workforce. Tennessee is a right-to-work state, which undertook a top-to-bottom revision of its workers’ compensation laws in 2004. The State of Tennessee has established extensive skills-development opportunities for adult workers through the Tennessee Technology Centers. The state’s network of 26 Technology Centers.

But the key to Tennessee’s success as a business option is the same as it is in commercial real estate: location, location, location. Tennessee is better connected to America’s interstate highway system than any state in the nation. Companies understand the advantages of locating in Tennessee, a state that touches eight bordering states and from which a business can access 76% of America’s major markets by truck within a day.

Tennessee is also a distribution hub, boasting the world’s busiest cargo airport in Memphis, home to Federal Express. Both Memphis and Nashville offer international air passenger service and are connected to four regional airports. Three major railroad lines also bisect Tennessee, with connections to hundreds of short lines, providing access to intermodal transportation.

For more information, contact:
Tennessee Department of Economic
and Community Development
Tel: +1 877 768 6374
or +1 615 741 1888
Website: www.tnecd.gov

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