SEIDA Annual Report 2013

Southeast Industrial Development Association 2013 ANNUAL REPORT Looking Back…

Moving Forward

Athens Utilities Board ▪ Blue Ridge Mountain EMC ▪ Chickamauga Electric System ▪ Cleveland Utilities ▪ Dayton Electric Department ▪ Electric Power Board ▪ Etowah Utilities ▪ Murphy Power Board ▪ North Georgia EMC ▪ Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative ▪ Tri-State EMC

The Southeast Industrial Development Association (SEIDA) is a regional economic development association that partners with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and eleven local power distributors to provide economic development services throughout a three-state, twenty-two county region in North Georgia, Southwestern North Carolina, and Southeast Tennessee.

Services provided include assistance with business locations and expansions, identification of financing opportunities, infrastructure development, and marketing and demographic research.

Looking back, the SEIDA region has celebrated much economic development success; moving forward, our team will continue to be “Your regional source for sites, facilities, and financing.�

Industrial Recruitment and Expansions within the Region New Locations 10 Capital Investment $1,404,630,000 Jobs Created/Retained 6,576 Existing Industry Expansions/Retention 25

Special thanks to Kathy Johnson for her years of service as Program Director for SEIDA. 2006-2013 2

Past Success, Future Opportunity The Southeast Industrial Development Association has been blessed with wonderful leadership since its creation in 1989.

Looking back, we reflect on the individuals who have served the southeast region through their membership in the SEIDA Board of Directors.

In 2013, John Culpepper, Chickamauga Utilities Manager; Ron Hutchins, North Georgia Electric Membership Cooperative (NGEMC) President/CEO; and Tom Wheeler, Cleveland Utilities CEO announced plans of retirement.

Each of the three retiring board members was presented a pocket watch with an engraved display case thanking them for their years of service to the SEIDA board. Years of service were: John Culpepper—1997 to 2013 Ron Hutchins—1991 to 2013 Tom Wheeler—1989 to 2013

Pictured above L to R: Tom Wheeler, Cleveland Utilities; Beth Jones, SEIDA Executive Director; John Culpepper, Chickamauga Utilities; Ron Hutchins, NGEMC; Larry Kernea, Murphy Power Board & SEIDA Board Chairman

Moving forward, we welcomed new board members John Goins, Etowah Utilities; Michael Haney, Chickamauga Utilities; Ken Webb, Cleveland Utilities; and Kathryn West, NGEMC. www.seida.info

Business and Industry Expansions and Locations Existing Industry Existing industries continue to expand within the region. Among the announcements of expansion plans were DENSO in Athens/McMinn County, Tennessee with $1 billion investment and 130 jobs over the next four years; Lodge Manufacturing Company in South Pittsburg/ Marion County, Tennessee with the creation of an additional 25 jobs; and Shaw Industries also in South Pittsburg will make a $40 million investment and add more than 25 jobs.

Benton Steel in Dunlap/Sequatchie County, Tennessee held a groundbreaking ceremony in celebration of their expansion, which includes a new 40,000 square foot facility, an investment of $1.25 million and the addition of 50 jobs.

New Beginnings Prologue announced plans to invest $2.5 million in Whitwell, Tennessee to build a 20,000 square foot facility and purchase equipment for its new operation to manufacture green fire logs and barbecue briquettes extruded from recycled leaves, cuttings and other green byproducts. The project will result in the creation of 30 new jobs for citizens of Marion County and surrounding communities.

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200 Jobs and $28 Million Investment The Southeast Industrial Development Association (SEIDA) in partnership with Athens Utilities Board, the City of Athens, McMinn County Economic Development Authority, McMinn County Government, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, and TVA worked to successfully locate HP Pelzer to the Mt. Verd Interchange Industrial Park in Athens, Tennessee. HP Pelzer made their announcement to locate in McMinn County in April 2013.

HP Pelzer Automotive Systems, Inc., a German-based automotive parts manufacturer was founded over 40 years ago in Witten, Germany by Helmut Pelzer. The HP Pelzer Group has grown to locations in Europe, Asia, and North and South America and is a world class manufacturer of automotive NVH and soft trim components. This new manufacturing facility in Athens will allow the Pictured L to R: Steve Paladino, HP company better access to its current customers Pelzer COO; Kathy Johnson, former SEIDA Program Director; Eric Newberry, as well as the opportunity to expand its Athens Utilities Board General Manager; customer base.

John Pendleton, HP Pelzer Global COO & President of NAFTA; Mitch Moore, City of Athens Manager; Jack Hammontree, Former Executive Director McMinn County EDA; Kathy Knight McMinn County EDA Executive Director

HP Pelzer will be the Industrial Park’s anchor tenant providing the opportunity for 200 jobs to the SEIDA region. www.seida.info

Business & Industry Grants and Administration ED staff packaged and administered the following industrial projects throughout the year:  City of Chattanooga Amazon EDA  Wacker State Endowment Grant  Prologue Fast Track Grant  Shaw Industries Fast Track Grant  Jasper Materials Fast Track Grant

TVA SOC Funds Signage for the new Mann + Hummel facility located in Dunlap, Tennessee was completed using TVA SOC funds.

For additional information about the SOC Program please visit www.tvaed.com.

LIDAR Mapping For future planning of industrial sites, SEIDA contracted with the Atlantic Group to obtain data through Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) technology that would allow the creation of 2-foot contour maps to be used in the recruiting and marketing of industrial sites located in the SEIDA region.

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D&B Custom Powder Coating & Hydrographics Receives Federal Loan SETDD and Rural Development assisted D&B Custom Powder Coating, LLC (D&B) with the expansion of their facility by utilizing a second loan from the RD Intermediary Revolving Loan Funds (IRP). The funds allowed D&B to purchase equipment to provide hydrographic printing service for two local companies and establish two new customers: an overseas client and a Tier 1 parts supplier to Volkswagen in Chattanooga.

New Cleveland Regional Jetport On March 4, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty held a regional stakeholders meeting in Southeast Tennessee at the new Cleveland Regional Jetport. The official opening/dedication of the Jetport was held on March 8th. www.seida.info

Entrepreneur and Small Business Development Entrepreneurs and small business owners from across Northwest Georgia were invited to the 2nd Annual Entrepreneur Resource Rally event at Dalton State College on Friday, September 27.

The Entrepreneur Resource Rally was co-sponsored by the Center for Economic Research and Entrepreneurship of Dalton State College’s School of Business and the Southeast Industrial Development Association.

Panelists, L to R: Lee Tubbs, Enviroguard Pest Solutions; Bruno Durant, The Worm Farm; Brenda Gass, D&B Custom Powder Coating and Hydrographics, Inc.

The workshop included an interactive discussion with a panel of experienced entrepreneurs from agribusiness, manufacturing and the service industry. Information about financing opportunities from non-traditional lenders and other local, state and regional resources were presented, as well as opportunities for networking.

There were over 60 in attendance at the event.

Keynote speaker, Dr. Marilyn Helms, Sesquicentennial Chair and Professor of Management of Dalton State College School of Business

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Additional sponsors of the event included Dalton State School of Business, Dalton State Foundation, Enviroguard Pest Solutions, North Georgia Electric Membership Corporation and the US Department Pictured L to R: Sarah Johnson, SEIDA; Stephanie Watkins, of Agriculture Rural Development.

SEIDA; Laura Sparks, NGEMC Supporting partners include the Chambers of Commerce from Catoosa County, Chattooga County, Chatsworth-Murray County, Dade County, Gordon County, Greater Dalton, and Walker County.

Resource Row

Regional Conferences and Sponsorships The Tennessee Valley Authority’s 8th Annual Economic Developers forum was held February 28 thru March 1, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. “The Valley Grows” offered ED professionals insight to Cultivating Our Region through sessions such as Breaking New Ground on the Retail Front, Turning Over a New Leaf with TVASites.com, Planting New Strategies for Financial Resources, Leveraging the Valley Investment Initiative for New and Expanded Growth, and Growing the Valley with TVA’s Target Market Staff.

Pictured L to R: Scott Cooper, TVA; Kathy Johnson, SEIDA; John Bradley, TVA

SEIDA sponsored Manufacturing Trends in 2013 at the Dalton Country Club for industries located in 5 counties served

by North Georgia Electric Membership (NGEMC).

The 60th Annual Governor’s Conference on Economic and Community Development was held October 3-4, 2013 in Nashville. The conference included keynote speaker Joe Scarlett, Secrets of Site Selectors panel, and several other sessions on topics such as automotive manufacturing, foreign direct investment, incentives, entrepreneurship, marketing strategies, retail, workforce development, and certified sites.

Pictured above from L to R: Kim Gamble, NGEMC; Kathy Johnson, SEIDA; Laura Sparks, NGEMC; Stephanie Watkins, SEIDA; Harriett Stokes, NGEMC

The North Etowah Industrial Park located in McMinn County was among those industrial sites recognized as a Select Tennessee Certified Site. www.seida.info

Professional Economic Development April 8-9, 2013, SEIDA staff along with other SETDD staff members participated in the first annual Development District Association of Appalachia workshop held in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Training sessions included topics related to management, leadership, technology and finance.

The Tennessee Certified Economic Developer (TCED) Program provides high quality training, continuing education and professional development opportunities to Tennessee’s economic and community development professionals and community leaders.

On November 6-7, Tennessee economic developers including SEIDA staff completed the Tennessee Business Retention and Expansion course in Smyrna. This day-and-a-half course is one of the eight economic development core courses of the Tennessee Certified Economic Developer (TCED) professional certification program administered by The University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services (CIS).

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Greater Chattanooga Regional Growth Initiative—Thrive 2055 SETDD and SEIDA continues to partner with local governments, businesses and citizens in THRIVE 2055, the regional growth plan whose mission is to proactively engage the people of our region in creating an action plan to make the most of our economic opportunities while preserving what we love most about our home communities.

In year one of this 3 year process, we have traveled over 3,500 miles across 16 Counties to directly reach approximately 2700 individuals through speaking engagements, input incubators, and meetings in a box to ensure this effort is a citizen–led process with broad public engagement. Many of our local elected officials and regional business and civic leaders are also participating in the organized committee efforts.

Paths, Places, People and Prosperity working groups, made up of volunteers from around the region, have fanned out to consult stakeholders as part of a regional self assessment. The purpose of the assessment is to evaluate the current status of our region with regard to topics such as population growth trends, economic development, education and workforce, access to healthcare, transportation, developed land and natural resources.

As we enter our second year, we will focus our efforts on visioning and creating possibilities around local values and key issues that will help guide our region into the next 40 years. We recognize that developing partnerships and collaborating across county and state lines will help create a competitive region where all citizens have the opportunity to THRIVE. www.seida.info

Southeast Industrial Development Association 1000 Riverfront Parkway Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402 P.O. Box 4757 Chattanooga, Tennessee 37405

www.seida.info Your Regional Source for Sites, Facilities and Financing