TVA And Economic Development

TVA makes the Tennessee Valley’s economy stronger by building business and community partnerships that bring jobs to our region and keep them here.  TVA partners with other groups throughout the region—including public power distributors, regional and local economic development associations, state agencies, chambers of commerce, and communities—to support economic growth in the Valley by:

• Delivering reliable, competitively priced TVA power that makes the Valley an attractive place to start or expand a business.
• Working with Valley communities to help businesses thrive and to help bring new high-quality jobs to the region.
• Offering an array of services and financial resources, including capital investment loans for new and growing businesses, site-selection assistance, and small- and minority-business support.
• Providing state and local governments across the Valley with annual tax-equivalent payments that help support education, road construction, and other vital community needs. 
• TVA paid state and local governments more than $450 million in lieu of taxes in 2008, an increase of $75 million from the previous year.
• TVA has made more than $2.5 billion in tax-equivalent payments during the past seven years and expects to pay more than $490 million in 2009.

TVA provides economic development services in three broad areas:

• Global Business and Community Development offers industrial recruiting services and regional and community development assistance to communities throughout the Tennessee Valley region.
• Business Resources delivers products and services to stimulate job creation, leverage capital investment, and meet the expansion and retention needs of existing industries. TVA also helps link Valley communities with business opportunities, expansions, and retentions and helps women- and minority-owned businesses increase their job creation and capital investment opportunities.
• Technical Services provides general engineering design services to help industrial prospects make sound location decisions and helps TVA administer grants for the Appalachian Regional Commission. 

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

• TVA’s economic development efforts in 2008 helped attract or retain more than 41,000 jobs and leveraged nearly $5.5 billion in capital investment, including a $1 billion investment by Volkswagen of America to build an automobile plant at a TVA megasite near Chattanooga, Tennessee, that will create almost 2,000 jobs.
• Volkswagen’s investment was one of two large projects involving TVA megasites named among the top 10 deals in North America for 2008 by Site Selection magazine. Hemlock Semiconductor’s $1.2 billion investment in a silicon plant at a TVA megasite in Clarksville, Tennessee also was named to the list. 
• Site Selection named TVA one of the 2008 Top Utilities of the Year for outstanding economic-development achievements in 2007.  This was the third consecutive year TVA was named a top utility by the international magazine, which is delivered to more than 44,000 executives of fast-growing companies.
• In February 2008, TVA and the Appalachian Regional Commission signed a new memorandum of understanding renewing their commitment to work together to help people in Appalachian communities improve their quality of life.  TVA serves as the administrator for many projects funded by ARC that work to increase investment in infrastructure and capacity-building initiatives. 
• In October 2008, the TVA Board approved the Valley Investment Initiative, an economic development initiative that offers incentive awards from TVA and local distributors of TVA power to existing industries that remain in the Tennessee Valley, increase their capital investment, add quality jobs, and use energy efficiently.
• In March 2009, TVA released an upgraded version of TVAsites.com, an interactive Web site that promotes industrial buildings and land in the Valley region.  The site helps communities have a global reach in the site-selection field.  The site offers Google™ mapping with 13-layering options and satellite, terrain, and street views.  The site is available at TVAsites.com.
• TVA joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, and others to create a proposed Volunteer State Solar Initiative, a $63 million investment to advance job creation, education, research and renewable-power production in Tennessee. If approved by the Department of Energy and the Tennessee General Assembly, the initiative will establish the Tennessee Solar Institute at UT, ORNL campuses in Knoxville and Oak Ridge, and the 20-acre West Tennessee Solar Farm to be located on the Megasite in Haywood County, Tennessee.

 

Document Updated 06/22/2009