Tennessee named ‘2013 State of the Year’ for economic development

Business Facilities magazine cites diverse top projects in award

NASHVILLE—Tennessee is the “2013 State of the Year,” according to Business Facilities magazine, a national economic development publication.

Tennessee’s top five economic development projects created a total of 6,900 jobs and $3.2 billion in capital investment, and they included seven expansions and three new recruitments. The magazine picked the state after evaluating the top five projects for the number of jobs created and amount of capital invested from Oct. 1, 2012, through Oct. 31, 2013.

“A lot of hard work goes into keeping Tennessee competitive, and I want to thank Business Facilities for recognizing the efforts of so many people across the state,” Gov. Bill Haslam said. “We understand that jobs are created when someone is willing to risk capital, and we will continue working to make Tennessee a great place to invest.”

“Over the past year, Tennessee has experienced unprecedented amounts of momentum,” said Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Economic and Community Development commissioner. “The global companies that invested capital in our state and the number of jobs created demonstrate to the world that Tennessee not only provides a top-notch business environment, but also the ongoing support needed for success. I am extremely pleased by this award and look forward to another successful year.”

“Tennessee continues to impress us with its aggressive execution of a diversified growth strategy,” Business Facilities Editor in Chief Jack Rogers said. “The state has put in place a solid foundation for robust job creation for years to come.”

The top economic development projects for number of jobs created and amount of capital invested from Oct. 1, 2012–Oct. 31, 2013, include the following:

Top Five Projects for Jobs

• Hankook Tire Co., Ltd (Montgomery County): 1,800 jobs
• ARAMARK (Davidson County): 1,500 jobs
• Nissan North America, Inc. (Rutherford County): 1,400 jobs
• Calsonic Kansei North America, Inc. (Bedford, Marshall, and Rutherford counties): 1,200 jobs
• UBS (Davidson County): 1,000 jobs

Top Five Projects for Capital Investment

• Eastman Chemical Co. (Sullivan County): $1.6 billion
• Hankook Tire Co., Ltd (Montgomery County): $800 million
• International Paper Co. (Shelby County): $321 million
• Nike, Inc. (Shelby County): $276 million
• Alcoa, Inc. (Blount County): $275 million

Tennessee earned a number of accolades in 2013, including being named No. 1 in the nation for automotive manufacturing strength for an unprecedented four years in a row by Business Facilities. Tennessee was also ranked in the Top 5 states with the best business climate by Site Selection. CEO respondents voted Tennessee the fourth best state in the U.S. for business in Chief Executive Magazine’s Annual Best & Worst States for Business Survey.

Tennessee joins Texas as the only multiple winner in the annual competition since the award was created in 2007. Runners-up in the 2013 competition were Utah, Texas, Louisiana, Georgia and Pennsylvania.