Middle Tennessee Is Fertile Ground for Business
Published May 27, 2008
There are many conditions that make the Middle Tennessee region ripe for companies looking to locate here. So many, in fact, that in 2005 and 2006, Expansion Management named Nashville as the nation’s top metro area for business expansions and relocations.
That’s no surprise to Doug Brandon, managing partner with Colliers Turley Martin Tucker Commercial Real Estate Services. “The demographics here are incredible,” Brandon says. “I’ve never met anyone who has moved here who hasn’t said they love the people here.” The people of the region help attract companies in other ways as well. Randy Wolcott, senior vice-president of ProVenture Commercial Real Estate, says the area labor force is a big draw. “You get a more productive employee because of the work ethic of folks in Middle Tennessee,” he says.
In his 22 years in the region’s commercial real estate market, Wolcott has seen some big changes. For example, he says that in 1991, a 200,000-square-foot facility was the maximum size in the region, but now it is not uncommon to have 500,000-plus square-foot operations. And helping to nurture the process of growing these businesses is an almost legendary cooperation between the public and private sectors.
Brandon can’t say enough about the work of TVA in helping adapt existing conditions to individual companies’ needs. “TVA is phenomenal in coming in and building a system to provide ample sources of power,” he says. “From an economic development standpoint, TVA’s impact is phenomenal to make this a vibrant community.”
As an example, he cites the work that TVA did with the Verizon Wireless Call Center in Murfreesboro to ensure adequate power. “All of that has to tie together,” Brandon says. “And that’s what makes Nashville special – the cooperation between the public and private sectors.”
Other factors that appeal to relocating businesses are low property taxes and utility costs, and economic diversity. “The cost of living is a big factor,” Brandon says. “Not having a state income tax is a huge advantage for our state.”
Wolcott notes the myriad transportation options of the area as well. “We’ve gone from a manufacturing city with local and regional distribution to a manufacturing city with local, regional and national distribution,” he says. “Nashville fares well because of its central location.
You’ve got six interstate legs to serve various markets, and the inbound costs and outbound costs are favorable.”
But Nashville isn’t the only target on companies’ radar screens. Doug Brandon sees many hot spots across the Middle Tennessee region. “Williamson County is really on fire, along with Wilson County, Hendersonville and Gallatin,” he says. And the quality of life in both Nashville and the outlying areas is another reason that so many companies come calling.
“Employers are amazed at the quality of life their employees can have here,” he continues. “This is not just a one-pony town. We’ve got pro sports, top-level colleges, a huge health-care system and, of course, the music business. If you want to go to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center on a Tuesday night you can do that, or if you want to go watch the Nashville Sounds [minor league baseball team] play, you can do that, too.”
And Wolcott says it doesn’t look like things will slow down any time soon. “You’re going to see continued growth and expansion of distribution companies driven by existing companies and ones relocating here, especially from the Northeast,” he says.
Story by Kimberly Daly
Current Weather Conditions In Nashville, TN (37201)
Partly Cloudy, and 67 ° F. For more details?
Click here...
