Roane Alliance receives TVA sustainable community award for 
Roane County

The Roane Alliance received a Silver Award on behalf of Roane County at a recent Tennessee Valley Authority sustainable communities luncheon.

The TVA Valley Sustainable Communities Program Recognition Luncheon was Dec. 3 in Nashville. The award ceremony honored 13 communities from across the Tennessee Valley Region.

Roane County’s trophy was presented by Heidi Smith, a general manager in TVA’s economic development program, to Leslie Henderson, president and chief executive officer of The Roane Alliance; Teresa Jackson, Roane’s sustainable officer of The Roane Alliance; and Danice Turpin, director of Tennessee Applied College of Technology, a member of the Roane Green Team.

The other communities honored included Athens/McMinn County, Chattanooga/Hamilton County, Cookeville, Franklin, Germantown, Knoxville, Lewisburg, Nashville, Oak Ridge, Washington County, Wayne County, and Oxford/Lafayette County, Miss., a press release said.

Roane County received the Valley Sustainable Silver Community designation in August after completing a TVA-sponsored program that was developed and administered by consultant Boyette Strategic Advisors. The program was designed to help communities improve existing sustainability programs and increase their ability to attract new investment in their community. By documenting and publishing a community’s assets, companies looking to invest in new or expanded locations will more likely view the community as progressive and competitive, the release said.

“This award shows prospective business and industries that Roane County is committed to sustainability and making our community a better place to live and to work,” Henderson said.

“Sustainability has become a key issue for economic development organizations and communities as more corporations have demonstrated an increasing commitment to sustainability,” said Teresa Jackson, sustainability officer for The Roane Alliance. “I am amazed at how committed folks in Roane County are to these efforts.”

The Roane Alliance is Roane County’s economic development organization and consists of both public and private organizations, including the Roane County Chamber of Commerce, the Roane County Industrial Development Board, and the Roane County Visitors Bureau. For more information about Roane County’s sustainability programs, visit www.SustainableRoane.com.