FROM THE CHAIRMAN
In 2016, we witnessed the continued fruition of a shared vision, teamwork, and perseverance for a stronger healthier region. We didn’ t do it alone. We stood on the shoulders of those who came before us and partnered with so many across the region to achieve our goals. As you will see in this report, I believe 2016 will long be remembered as a year that we both achieved great things and planted the seeds for our future successes.
Your Chamber is in the“ development” business- whether it be economic, workforce, community, visitors or our members, we are committed to creating opportunities, raising incomes and improving the standard of living for our region. By this growth, we strengthen our local businesses and grow our tax base to improve roads, build schools and enhance public services.
This year we celebrated over 1,000 new jobs, the opening of our first tenant in the Highlands Industrial Park and the start of construction on our longawaited 5th interchange. ATC Automation’ s $ 10.4 million expansion added 110 high-skilled, high-paying jobs in the advanced manufacturing cluster. In October, we welcomed the global leadership team from FICOSA and Panasonic Automotive for the opening of their new, state-of- the-art $ 50 million facility employing more than 900 of our neighbors.
Behind the scenes, our economic development team worked to cultivate the opportunities of the future by responding to dozens of requests for information, deepening our relationships with site selectors, and participating in the state’ s Property Evaluation Program to identify our best future industrial sites. We also began the planning for the next phase of the Highlands Economic Partnership.
Our economic growth simply would not be possible without our worldclass workforce development initiative. In 2016, we expanded our efforts to launch one of the first Tennessee Reconnect Communities by helping 673 adults re-engage with their postsecondary education or certification. Our Advanced Manufacturing Pathway grew 124 % to 251 students and we started a new pathway for Information Technology. We also began a teacher externship program to give teachers“ real world” experience to take back to their classroom and we hosted our largest ever 8th Grade career fair for 1,695 students.
They say that tourism is one of the purest forms of economic development. Thanks to our past efforts, Harley-Davidson asked us to host the first ever Southern Backroads H. O. G. Rally, which is expected to bring 5,000 visitors to town this July. We also hosted our 8th TSSAA BlueCross Bowl in partnership with Tennessee Tech, the county, and City of Cookeville and secured the rights to remain Tennessee’ s high school football capital through at least 2020.
As I mentioned earlier, we didn’ t achieve these successes alone. We are grateful for the spirit of partnership and teamwork that exists in this community. This annual report will highlight these relationships, our team, and many of our other great accomplishments this year. I am proud of our Chamber and have been honored to be associated with the many people, both staff and volunteers, who share a passion for our community.
Don Viar
Epic Technologies
2016 Chairman of the Board
Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce
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