In July 2003, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce launched an unprecedented campaign to raise the profile of the region, create jobs, spur investment and serve as an economic catalyst for decades to come. The four-year endeavor called Tell the World! was a joint project of the Chamber, the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County and over 150 area businesses. Upon conclusion this past July, Tell the World! had generated a total of 124 investments by businesses, including 77 expansions and 47 new locations. Approximately $1.3 billion was pumped into the local economy during the period, with just over a billion coming from expansions by existing companies. The regional economy netted 15,000 new jobs, resulting in job growth rate of 6.5 percent during the campaign, significantly above the average of 5.9 percent for Tennessee. An aggressive recruitment and marketing effort for Enterprise South Industrial Park gained momentum, and the lengthy discussions with Toyota, which nearly resulted in the automaker’s locating a major facility at the site, have proven that Chattanooga is competitive on a national and international scale. “As the first program of its type to my knowledge that has ever been attempted here, Tell the World! succeeded in doing what we set out to do,” said Chamber President and CEO Tom Edd Wilson. “Tell the World! was not just about raising money and hard numbers, but also about informing the public about the importance that all the initiatives involved in an economic development program play in improving the economy. In a sense, Tell the World! represents a cultural change.” Wilson emphasized that the initiative’s successes were achieved after starting essentially from square one. “I think one very important accomplishment was bringing everyone and every organization that is involved in some form of economic development together and sharing ideas with one another so that everyone knows what is going on,” he said. “And yes, we were successful in terms of fundraising. We had set a goal of $9 million and after reaching that goal we then had to allocate the funds to programs we had never managed before. We built a strong foundation, and a lot more people in this community are talking about economic development and how things fit together. Funds are focused in the appropriate directions, and we have a great partnership among the city, the county, and the Chamber.” Perhaps the most tangible evidence of 48 months of hard work in economic development is the diversity and depth of the investment. Manufacturers, service providers, innovators and developers have put capital to work in the Chattanooga area. Land and space, a favorable transportation network, and a well-prepared workforce helped attract the investment. In September 2003, Roger Layne incorporated East Tech Company, Inc., leveraging the years of engineering experience both he and his brother Archie possessed in a new venture to manufacture replacement parts for hydroelectric and nuclear power plants. In the last four years, East Tech has increased the number of individuals on its company payroll tenfold, from three to 30. By January 2006, East Tech had relocated to Centre South Riverport Industrial Park, and construction began on a brand new 30,000-square foot facility. Layne estimates that East Tech sales will approach $4 million this year and that within three to five years the company will employ as many as 60 workers with sales between $10 and $15 million. “Our sales have driven our expansion," Layne said. “In 2005, we doubled our sales over 2004, and in the last two years our company is growing at a rate of 35 percent per year. We are creating good-paying jobs for our employees, 50 percent of whom were unemployed when we hired them." Tell the World! also saw major announcements by U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Inc., and T-Mobile USA, Inc. In the spring of 2004, U.S. Xpress revealed plans to purchase 40 acres in the Silverdale Industrial Park just across the street from its corporate headquarters on Jenkins Road. The project includes 50,000-square-feet of office space and is expected to employ as many as 500 new workers. “We have had great success in hiring the people we need from the local labor pool,” said U.S. Xpress Co-Chairman Pat Quinn. “Building on our successes by continuing to grow in the Chattanooga area just makes sense.” Mayor Ron Littlefield and Hamilton in Chongquing, China. County Mayor Claude Ramsey at T-Mobile First Call Event T-Mobile, which has more than 19 million customers, completed construction of a state-of-the-art customer care center on Lee Highway in 2005 and has hired over 800 workers to staff the 80,000-square-foot facility. The Tell the World! team competed fiercely for the project, making a concerted effort to offer T-Mobile its best option for a new center. The company's top priority was a well-qualified workforce. "Back office operations and information technology companies constituted two of the business targets in the Tell the World! strategy," Wilson said. "The TMobile project proves that our plan and strategy can attract major facilities of this kind. T-Mobile officials met with four local companies to conduct interviews about our workforce. The participation of these area businesses was critical to winning the project." With an initial investment of over $7 million, Aerisyn, LLC, was formed in 2005 as the first automated wind tower manufacturing facility in North America.The company leases 250,000-square feet of space at the Alstom Building on West 19th Street. The availability of space large enough to accommodate the components of wind tower manufacturing was a key factor in the decision to locate in Chattanooga. "Our product is very large," said CEO Mike Hohl. "Typically, the towers are 250 feet tall and manufactured in four sections with diameters varying from eight to 14 feet." Aerisyn tapped into a well-trained manufacturing workforce in the Chattanooga area to hire 160 employees. “Our core competency is welding,” said Hohl, “and about 60 percent of the core manufacturing jobs we have are welders. The outlook for the renewable energy sector is promising, and we could see some expansion down the road.” Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield said the city is now on the lists of many companies which might not have given the area consideration prior to Tell the World! “Chattanooga must do everything in its power to ‘cut through the clutter’ of advertising and public relations efforts by other communities with which we compete,” he said. "Tell the World! has had a positive impact with industrial locators and investors. Everywhere I go now, everywhere in the country, I hear positive things about Chattanooga." “Since the beginning of the year, the pipeline of companies considering Hamilton County for a job creation project has tripled,” said Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey. “We will continue to focus on encouraging home-grown entrepreneurs, supporting existing company expansion, and recruiting new companies." Wilson pointed out that Tell the World! established a precedent for continuing action. In the fall of 2006, the Chamber launched another four-year job creation campaign -- Chattanooga CAN DO. Funding efforts for Chattanooga CAN Do have generated more than $9 million, and the goal of $10 million is well within reach. For the CAN DO phase, which will last from July 2007 to June 2011, the Chamber has set the following goals: • The Chamber will directly assist companies in announcing 7,500 new jobs that will have a ripple effect of creating a additional 8,073 for a total of 15,573 new jobs. • The Chamber's direct efforts will also support companies in announcing $500,000,000 in investments during the five-year period. “Accelerating growth in something as large as a regional economy takes time, but our performance during Tell the World! convinces me that we will reach our goals during Chattanooga CAN DO,” Wilson said. US Xpress on the Move. The Media Tell the Story Over the past four years Chattanooga has received favorable attention in print media reaching over 77 million readers, thanks to placements generated by the Chamber's communications department.Millions more have been exposed to glowing pieces developed from the CAN DO community buzz that Tell the World! created. "We have quite literally told the world about this exceptional community -- its beauty, amenities, civic spirit and business opportunities," said J.Ed. Marston, Chamber vice president of marketing and communications. "We have made headlines in publications ranging from The New York Times to Popular Science, from The Wall Street Journal to Parade magazine. People have read about our riverfront renewal, our public schools' progress and our business-friendly environment We are definitely on the map." Following is a sampling of theChattanooga coverage over the past four years: US Airways Magazine "One of the Most Livable Cities in the South" August 2007 Chattanooga is a "high" profile city in a 38-page segment in the August 2007 edition of US Airways' inflight magazine. The story, which exposed millions of air travelers to the Scenic City, covers business, the arts, health and the outdoors, among other topics. See more on the article on Page 26. Expansion Management Magazine Chattanooga a Favorite of Site Selectors February 2007 Chattanooga’s stock as a great place for business soared after Expansion Management Magazine ranked it among the top cities in the country for businesses looking to relocate or expand. The February 2007 issue of the magazine calls Chattanooga one of America’s 50 hottest cities, based on a survey of 80 prominent corporate site location experts. Retirement Lifestyles “11 Great Places to Retire in the South” February/March 2007 Chattanooga was named one of the Top 11 Southern Retirement Towns in the February/March 2007 issue of Retirement Lifestyles, a 10-year-old magazine that highlights locations, communities and lifestyles for prospective retirees across the U.S. Popular Science Local Inventor Featured June 2007 Fred Pearson Enterprises is recognized in the June issue of Popular Science magazine for his creation of the Stunstick Neuroscrambler, an innovative security device that enables users to safely knock down and incapacitate aggressors without causing any lasting harm. Pearson is a client of the Hamilton County Center for Entrepreneurial Growth (CEG) and a client/resident of the UTC/Hamilton County Accelerator. The CEG is administered by the Chamber. Land Development Today "Partnering is Core Philosophy in Chattanooga" Both the March and February 2007 issues of Land Development Today contain articles on Chattanooga, written by Greg Yoko, who participated in a Chamber-sponsored media tour. The March article, "The Revitalization of Chattanooga: Partnering is Core Philosophy in Chattanooga," describes the city's revitalization projects, private sector development efforts and the Coca-Cola bottling business. USA Today "Chattanooga: A Riverfront Transformed" June, 2005 USA Today is among several news media that highlightedthe projects in Chattanooga’s riverfront transformation. The USA Today article describes Chattanooga’s rebirth as the Scenic City and the completion of the $120 million redevelopment of the Tennessee River waterfront.