TVA and Economic Development

TVA helps make the Tennessee Valley 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 customers and communities, regional state, and local economic development associations and Chambers to support economic growth in the Valley by:

• Delivering reliable, competitively priced power that makes the Valley an attractive place to start or expand a business.
• Working with Valley communities to help businesses create and retain high-quality jobs in the region.
• Offering an array of services and financial resources, including capital investment funds for new and growing businesses, site-selection assistance, technical services, and rural and small-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.
• Administering grants for the Appalachian Regional Commission to assist efforts of sustainable community and economic development in Appalachia.

TVA's economic development services fall under three broad areas:

• Recruiting new businesses to the Valley
• Retaining existing companies in the region
• Preparing communities for growth opportunities

Recent Highlights

• Despite a slow economy in 2012, TVA Economic Development helped attract or retain almost 48,000 jobs and generate more than $5.9 billion in capital investment across the TVA region.
• Site Selection magazine named TVA one of the Top Utilities of the Year for outstanding economic-development achievements in 2011. This was the seventh 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.
• The Megasites Program—a catalog of certified, large industrial properties ready for heavy industrial development—has seen five of the eight sites sold. These sites were developed by Severstal, PACCAR, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Dow Corning/Hemlock Semiconductor. These companies represent almost 6,000 jobs and $5.5 billion in capital investment.
• The Data Center Site Assessment program aims to better prepare communities in the TVA service territory to attract and support data centers and technology companies. To date, more than 20 sites have been designated as primary, ready-for-development sites by Deloitte Consulting. These sites are being actively globally marketed by TVA and state and local communities.

Resources

TVAsites.com is an interactive website that promotes the sale or lease of industrial buildings and land in the Valley. The site helps communities achieve a global reach in the site-selection process. The site offers Google™ mapping with 13 layering options and satellite, terrain and street views.

To learn more about all TVA economic development programs and services, visit TVAed.com.

 

December 2012