Posted, June 2007
Mayors Announce Local Job Growth Exceeds 16,000 since 2003, Confer Three Green Awards during Industry Appreciation Breakfast
Chattanooga, Tennessee -- Chattanooga's strong showing in job growth and business initiatives that serve the environment formed the highlights of remarks by Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey and Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield during the 4th Annual Mayors Business and Industry Appreciation Breakfast on June 12.
The event, which drew some 500 businesspeople to the ballroom of the Chattanoogan Hotel, was hosted by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.
Ramsey pointed out that Chattanooga led the state in job growth during the first quarter of the year. "This is the first time Chattanooga has led first quarter job growth in more than 15 years," Ramsey said. "Your hard work and your success as business leaders helped us make strong gains in the information sector and the professional and business services section and allowed us to add jobs in manufacturing, as well."
Ramsey praised the Chamber's four-year Tell the World! economic development initiative for playing an important role in the gain of 16,100 net new jobs between July 2003-- when Tell the World! was launched -- and April 2007. "With the Chamber dedicated to recruiting business and expanding companies through face-to-face meetings, site selector visits and worldwide marketing, we are definitely making progress in economic activity. Hamilton County and Chattanooga are on site selector radar screens around the globe."
According to Littlefield environmental enterprises are also helping Chattanooga expand its economic base. "Businesses understand that sustainable practices are not only good for our ecology, they are good for our economy as well," he said. "Environmentally sustainable business practices can only succeed when there is a healthy relationship between profits and protecting the environment."
The occasion marked the first presentation of three Green Awards, citations established through the Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement as a means of recognizing achievement of high standards of excellence in protecting the environment.
The Green Building Award was presented to Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise (CNE), the RiverCity Company and the Lyndhurst Foundation for designing, funding and building the new Jefferson Heights subdivision. The new subdivision is the most energy-efficient and has the smallest carbon footprint of any subdivision ever built in Hamilton County.
Jefferson Heights received EarthHouse Craft Certification which assures healthy, comfortable energy-efficient homes that have a minimum impact on the environment. Jeff Cannon from RiverCity accepted the award.
Buzzi Unicem USA-Signal Mountain Plant (formerly Signal Mountain Cement Company) received the Green Industry Award for reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by 51.3 percent for each of the 870,000 tons of cement manufactured by the plant each year. The reduction was achieved by a $140 million upgrade to the plant that changed the manufacturing procedure from the wet to the dry process.
The Clean Fuels Award was presented to Ross Benton of Benton Oil Service (BOS) for taking a proactive stance in the effort to make biodiesel readily available in the Chattanooga area. BOS, which is East Tennessee's largest fuel supplier for biodiesel blends, was applauded for working closely with potential customers regarding products and daily pricing structures that allow customers to develop appropriate alternative fuels strategies. Benton and BOS were commended for improving the local air quality, while helping diversity the Chattanooga fuels market.
