Crossville City Council Discusses Economic Development Partnership Opportunities and Use of Hotel/Motel Tax

During the Crossville City Council's second work session on the 2018-19 fiscal year budget, a discussion of the use of the proposed Hotel/Motel tax led to a discussion of future plans for economic development, business and industry recruitment.

Crossville city council work session

According to City finance director Fred Houston, he expects the new revenue to be handled as a separate enterprise fund in the city budget and he has looked at the estimated $200,000 revenue and earmarked $10,000 for the Sports and Events Committee plus $45,000 for the city's expense of the visitor's center in partnership with the county.

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Later in the discussion, it was pointed out that in the first year because the collection of the tax is delayed quarterly the first year's revenue would be closer to $150,000.

City Manager Wood explained that an additional $28,000 could be used for work on the proposed retail development on 127-N. He added the remaining funds could be used to help fund the chamber or the Playhouse other tourism and economic development activities.

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Council discussing the possibility of partnering with Roane Alliance or the Highland Initiative on economic development and looking at budgeting for such a buy-in.

City Manager Greg Wood has been investigating the possibilities and said both groups are interested in talking to the city about such a partnership. Wood added that Roane County was willing to discuss such a partnership but seemed less eager than Highland.

Councilman Danny Wyatt said the groups are regional and those kinds of partnerships are being pushed at meetings like the Governor's Conference.

Mayor James Mayberry added that he felt like Cumberland County was like a stepchild stuck out at the end of the Upper Cumberland Development District (UCDD) and UCHRA. “Our region is Cumberland County, Fentress County, and Bledsoe County,” added Mayberry. He said that the UCDD was trying to generate interest in a sub-region to include Cumberland, Fentress and Bledsoe Counties as a cooperative economic development group.

Councilman J. H. Graham commented, “That may be the best idea I've heard in a long time.”

Wyatt commented, “You've got to fit in somewhere. The definition of a fool is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. It has not been working.”

Mayberry asked the chamber's Brad Allamong how many site visits had come to Crossville and the response was 9 since July of 2017. Allamong added that the city made a huge investment in the Interchange Business Park of a quarter million and the county is in for a quarter million for the grant of half a million. He added that just this week ground was broken and work had begun on the 200,000 square foot pad.

“Now we're going to have something to market,” added Allamong. He also cited the Targeted Industry Study pointing out he had a list of hundreds of businesses that match with the area's current resources. Allamong continued that the next step is targeting industry currently in the high tax states. He said it was a similar idea as retirees that move from higher tax states to lower tax areas like Crossville.  

Questions Released County Mayor Primary Election Candidate Forum Thursday 6 PM at Cumberland Co. Playhouse

A list of questions for the County Mayor Candidates in the upcoming May First Republican Primary Election has been released by the Chamber of Commerce.  

Chamber of Commerce office.

The Candidate Forum will be held Thursday, March 15 in the main auditorium at the Cumberland County Playhouse starting at 6 PM.  The Forum is being provided as a public service event and anyone wishing to attend may do so. There will be no charge and seating is first come-first served.

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Each candidate will be provided time to introduce themselves and make a few opening remarks along with time at the end for closing comments. Since there are seven candidates running on the Republican ticket for the May primary, candidates' responses to questions will be required to be brief and will be timed.

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The following questions will not be asked in the order presented and have been provided to the candidates and to the media. 

1. Yes or no, if elected as our County Mayor, will you aggressively support and pursue the funding needed to place a full-time SRO in each of our County’s schools?
2. What knowledge and experience do you have of the operations and functions of County Government that you feel would qualify you to be Cumberland County’s next County Mayor?
3. What is your plan to promote economic development in our County to attract new business and industry?
4. Do you believe that cooperation between the City/County/Chamber is vital in our community and what would you do to continue that or even build upon that effort?
5. What do you feel is the greatest challenge facing Cumberland County today?
6. What do you think the County’s role should/could be in addressing the workforce issues of our community?
7. Assuming the cost of local government continues to increase, what would be a good strategy for finding new revenues?
8. How could the County help to create a capital improvements schedule in Cumberland County and what do you consider to be the top 3 capital projects that need to be addressed in the next few years? 

Chamber of Commerce to hold Pre-Primary County Mayor Candidate Forum in March

The Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce plans to sponsor a Pre-Primary County Mayoral Candidate Forum at the Cumberland County Playhouse-Mainstage on Thursday, March 15th from 6:00- 8:00 p.m. The Forum is being provided as a public service event and anyone wishing to attend may do so. There will be no charge and seating is first come-first served.

Chamber of Commerce Office

The format for the Forum is still in the development stage; but, each candidate will be provided time at the beginning to introduce themselves and make a few opening remarks along with time at the end for closing comments. Since there are seven candidates running on the Republican ticket for the May primary, candidates' responses to questions will be required to be brief and will be timed.

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Crossville-Cumberland County Maintains Status as a TVA Valley Sustainable Silver Community

Crossville-Cumberland County, which was first designated in the Valley Sustainable Communities Program at the Silver level in 2014, has recently completed the Designation Renewal Process, resulting in it maintaining its status in the program for an additional three years.

“This program has taken Crossville-Cumberland County’s economic development marketing efforts to prospective and existing sustainably-focused companies to a whole new level,” said Brad Allamong, Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce. “We are excited to be designated at the Silver level for an additional three years.”

“Crossville-Cumberland County’s continued designation at the Silver level recognizes that it has community-wide sustainability initiatives in place, with programs available to support the existing business community and promote economic development,” said Del Boyette, President/CEO of Boyette Strategic Advisors.

Sustainability has become a key issue for economic development organizations and communities as more corporations have demonstrated an increasing commitment to sustainability. A recent survey conducted by PwC found that 80 percent of CEOs believe it’s important to measure and reduce their environmental footprint. The typical reasons for this corporate commitment are reduced operating costs for increased profitability, attracting workforce talent and greater customer satisfaction.

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John Bradley, TVA Senior Vice President of Economic Development, said, “We are seeing that more and more companies have an increasing business emphasis on sustainable operations, and are adding this component to their RFIs as they search for a community where they can locate, grow, and enhance their company and employee sustainability commitments.”

The designation renewal process is focused on reviewing all programs that were part of the Sustainable Inventory previously developed and scored, and ensuring that all such programs are still in place and eligible for continued points designation. This process resulted in an updated Sustainable Inventory and Marketing Messages for Crossville-Cumberland County and its designation as a Silver community for the next three years.

At the conclusion of this year’s cycle, it is expected that a total of 31 communities across the Valley will have been recognized in the program. In addition to completing the inventory of sustainable assets and utilizing the Valley Sustainable Communities designation in their marketing materials, communities that complete the program also receive marketing support from TVA Economic Development.

The Valley Sustainable Communities Program, developed and administered in partnership with TVA Economic Development and consulting firm Boyette Strategic Advisors (Boyette) beginning in 2013. TVA offers the program as part of its community preparedness offerings to assist communities in evaluating existing sustainable programs, cataloging their sustainable assets, and increasing future commitments to sustainability. The goal of the program is to document a community’s assets and increase the likelihood that they will be viewed as progressive and competitive by companies looking to invest in new or expanded locations.

In order to continue to support the integrity of the Valley Sustainable Communities Program long term, the program was established so that the qualification for each community would be designated for a period of three years. At that point, a designation renewal process is initiated to re-designate the community under the program.

Regular Chamber agenda item removal hits a snag but expected to pass eventually

Efforts to remove the Chamber of Commerce report from the Crossville city council's monthly agenda hit a snag when one council member was a few minutes late to a short special called meeting.

Because changing the order of business on the council agenda requires an ordinance, it must be approved by council three times. The first reading of the change came during the regular August meeting and was approved by a 3 to 2 vote. Often called meetings will include the second or third readings of previously approved ordinances to move the process along.

Chamber of Commerce Office on Main St.

When the item came up as the first item on the called meeting agenda only four members of council were present as councilman J. H. Graham was delayed at the dentist's office. The motion to approve the ordinance on second reading came from council member Danny Wyatt with a second by member Pamala Harris. Harris and Wyatt voted in favor while member Scot Shanks and Mayor James Mayberry voted against as they did on the first reading. A motion fails when the vote ends in a tie and the the action can be brought back before council again but must start over back at the first reading at that time.

During the regular council meeting councilman Wyatt brought the issue forward saying that he felt the Chamber needed to go through the city manager with issues that arise, reports to make or items that need to be acted upon. The item was added to the agenda last year that allowed a report from either the County government or the Chamber or both. The Chamber has used the spot every month but the council has rarely heard from the county.

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During the regular meeting Mayor Mayberry described the Chamber as a vital partner in the promotion of Crossville and Cumberland County and he felt the communication they brought to the council was important enough to take the time to hear.

Councilman Wyatt said he felt the Chamber should go through the city manager who he added was doing a good job of keeping the council informed of items needing their attention. Councilman Shanks wanted to make sure that if the Chamber needed to speak before the council they could but was still opposed to removing the item from the agenda.  

Crossville council waiting on Chamber approval of contract changes, removes chamber report from agenda

A majority of the Crossville city council agreed to remove the regular monthly report by the Chamber of Commerce from the council's agenda but the chamber could still speak at the council meeting if needed.

The council also briefly discussed the contract for services with the chamber after some proposed changes suggested by the city are under consideration by the chamber's board. The council also approved the chamber report card to be used to report to the city.

Chamber President Brad Allamong, right, addresses the Council.

The chamber report has followed the city's marketing report where a slot for Cumberland County government or the Chamber could report to the council. The county government has not taken advantage of the opportunity but the chamber director/president Brad Allamong has.

At that point in the agenda, Mayor James Mayberry called for the chamber report but council member J. H. Graham said the next item on the agenda was a discussion of the chamber's contract. Allamong took the podium to present the chamber's new scorecard that will be used to report to the city on activities and progress toward goals. Allamong also presented council with copies of the new Lifestyles magazine that he said the Chamber uses to raise funds making about $14,000 from the publication. Copies of the magazine are sent to those inquiries about visiting, retirement and moving to the area and industrial prospects.

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Allamong pointed out some numbers from the report card including 412,000 website hits for the month. The chamber has several contacts in progress with potential new businesses prospects.

The chamber board will discuss the city proposed changes to the contract and will get back to the city at a future date. The council unanimously approved accepting the chamber report card to be used for reporting to the city.

Councilman Danny Wyatt addressed the monthly chamber report saying that the report card needed to go through the city manager who would provide information he thought important to the council members. Councilman Scot Shanks sought clarification to make sure that the council could still speak before the council if they needed to.

Council discussion on Chamber part 1

Council discussion on Chamber part 2

Wyatt said that the manager was doing a good job of keeping the council informed and as the CEO of the city, he needs to be in the loop to know what information needs to be sent along to the council.

Mr. Wyatt moved that the item be removed from the council agenda on the first reading of an ordinance the council must approve three times to make the change. The motion, seconded by Mr. Graham, was approved with three votes in favor from Wyatt, Graham and Pamala Harris. Mayor Mayberry and Mr. Shanks voted no.

Graham returned the discussion to the contract requesting that a clause be added to inform the city manager of the details of any prospective industrial prospect. Ms. Harris also clarified that the contract would not automatically renew each year but come back before council.  

August CIty Council agenda includes sidewalks, Chamber, airport committee, city manager and depot.

Crossville city council will take up a number of items at their regular August meeting Tuesday August 8 at Crossville city hall.

Items on the agenda include a public hearing and possible action on a TDOT grant to pay for sidewalk improvements in the downtown area. Council will also consider the contract between the city and the chamber of commerce and the scorecard the chamber has developed to report their work and progress to the city. Other items for discussion include the possible reestablishment of an airport committee, the evaluation of the new city manager Greg Wood's first six months, and a revised street closing policy.

The evening starts with the monthly audit committee meeting at 5 PM followed by a closed executive session concerning legal matters with city attorney Will Ridley. A public hearing on the TDOT transportation alternative program grant takes place at 5:30 and the council meets as the beer board at 5:45. The regualr agenda starts at 6 PM.

Downtown Crossville sidewalks

It seems that the council has talked about downtown sidewalk project for years, and they have. The council has made decisions and changed their mind over and over again. The last decision was to have TDOT come and do the corners they would do and the city would use the street department sidewalk crew to do the rest of repair and patch work over a lengthy period of time. Recently the city discussed a grant now called the transportation alternatives program, a different name but a similar grant that had been part of the downtown redevelopment program canceled about three years ago.

The current grant program will fund 80 percent of the costs of the project with the city paying the remaining 20 percent. The total estimated cost for the sidewalk work is just over $2.6 million. The city's portion would be almost $530,000.

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The project was discussed during the council's recent work session and the time line of environmental work, approvals and bidding pushes the construction completion of project back into the time frame of late 2020 when TDOT plans to repave the downtown area after delays from the previous attempts to complete the sidewalk projects.

The council needs to make a decision as the grant is due to be submitted on October 1 this year but the grant awards are not expected to be announced until October 2018.

A draft of a contract between the city and the Chamber of Commerce will be considered by the council. The contract has been under consideration as part of the city's funding to the chamber. During the recent work session, council member J. H. Graham asked that the contract address the inclusion of the city manager and marketing director in the process of industrial recruiting. Also discussed was the need to have agreements ready to go on property purchase credits for new jobs. This has been used for previous businesses with a lease and a purchase agreement.

Chamber of Commerce office

Council member Scot Shanks has brought up a proposal to reestablish an airport committee after a business that uses the airport brought some concerns to his attention. An airport committee made up of local pilots and airport supporters was abolished by the council in 2007 after some 50 years of existence. Discussion on the matter at the work session did not indicate support for the proposal but Mr. Shanks was unable to attend so the matter will come up on the agenda.

City manager Wood has been in his position for 6 months now and individual council members have provided feedback through an evaluation. The overall score covering 10 areas of work came in with an average score of 4 out of a possible 5 and council has provided additional written suggestions as well. The council could consider a salary increase.

Council will consider a change to a recently adopted street closing policy. Those changes could include no charge for joint or community events and a possible change in the location for cruise ins next year to the road behind the courthouse instead of Main Street.

With the C.A.T.S. Organization relinquishing the lease to operate the Crossville Depot there are two possible scenarios the city is looking at. One would let the local Crossville Model Railroad Club use the facility for their model train exhibit but that would not allow use of the facility for meetings. The other option is for the Palace Theatre to oversee the depot operation.  

Crossville Depot

Crossville council to consider reestablishing airport committee, Chamber contract and other items during Tuesday work session

After abolishing the Crossville Airport Committee ten years ago the Crossville city council will discuss bringing it back during the upcoming council work session Tuesday August 1st at 5:00 PM.

The Crossville Memorial Airport opened in 1934 and the first airport committee, made up mainly of local pilots was formed in the 1950's. The year 2007 saw a number of changes at the airport including the ending of the airport committee because the airport had an airport manager. The reestablishment of the airport committee discussion will be lead by city manager Greg Wood.

Crossville Memorial Airport building

Other topics on the work session include the contract between the city and the Chamber of Commerce in exchange for their funding as well as stopping the monthly report by the chamber to the council during their regular meeting.

The contract covers services that that the chamber will provide including industrial recruitment, retiree recruitment, tourism attraction, existing industry programming, leadership development, and downtown development. The chamber would receive $77,400 in exchange for the services provided. One of the things the chamber has been working on is a score card covering the services that it would provide to the city monthly that includes all the topics listed as well as work on workforce development and chamber membership numbers.

Chamber of Commerce building

For sometime, chamber director Brad Allamong has been reporting to the council during their regular meeting and the item for discussion suggests that the report could be provided with the city manager's report to save time during the council meeting and save Allamong a trip to the council meeting.

With the current lessee of the Crossville depot not interested in continuing the lease after it expires at the end of August, the city is considering operating the attraction itself in connection with the Palace Theatre. City manager Wood will be discussing the possibility with the council during the work session.

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Council will also revisit a proposal to charge for street closings based on the expenses to the city for street department and law enforcement personnel needed. Council had approved a policy earlier this year then approved a motion last month not to charge for any street closings. The policy also included references to 5K runs and static displays such as the cruise ins so the council will consider the adoption of a revised version.

Council will discuss the transportation alternative program or TDOT-TAP grant again for possible improvements to downtown sidewalks. The grant is an 80/20 grant with the city providing a 20 percent of the total funding as a match. The council had suggested using a second grant for work on the Crossville depot but because the depot is not on the historic register, it is not eligible.

The total estimated cost for the sidewalk work is just over $2.6 million. The city's portion would be almost $530,000.

City manager Wood has been in his position for 6 months now and council members have provided feedback through an evaluation. The overall score covering 10 areas of work came in as 4 out of a possible 5 and council has provided additional written suggestions as well. The council could consider a salary increase.

Crossville city manager Greg Wood

Council will also discuss a possible purchase of the remainder of the old handle mill property on Webb Avenue. Ronnie Webb is interested in selling the property along with another small lot across the street. The two properties total 2.85 acres. Webb is asking $597,000 for the properties. The state appraisals total $193,500. Webb has said he would accept the middle of three commercial appraisals and the city has priced that process at $9000.

The properties the city is looking at include the blue lot at the top

and the property across 5th St. at the bottom 

of the photo with structures.

   

City budget work mostly finished with $1.9 million deficit to come from fund balance. First reading approved.

City budget mostly complete with deficit to be covered by fund balance--public hearing set for June 13 at 5:30 PM.

The marathon evening started with a special called meeting and passing the first reading of the 2017-18 fiscal year city budget in title only followed by a work session on the regular meeting agenda and finished up with discussion to mostly complete work on the upcoming fiscal year budget.

It was a long night for the Crossville City Council.

With the approval of the first reading of the budget and tax rate with no increase in the property tax rate, two readings remain for final budget approval and the council will hold a public hearing on the budget before the council's regular June 13 meeting at 5:30 PM. The second reading is expected to be on that agenda with a third and final reading tentatively set for near the end of June.

Because this is the reappraisal year, the state will certify a new tax rate that is expected to drop sightly due to the increase in value of real estate to keep the revenue to the taxing authorities consistent in light of those changes.

The budget and tax rate ordinance was approved under the called meeting's consent agenda with 4 yes votes as council member J. H. Graham was running a few minutes late to the meeting.

Crossville City Hall

Following the work session discussion on the budget including some decisions on the non-profit or outside agency donations, the final budget stands at $1.9 in the red. The deficit amount includes around $1.5 million in capital projects funded by the city. After paying off the short term notes listed below, the deficit will be taken from the expected end of year fund balance of $14 million leaving the city still with some $12 million in the bank as a “rainy day” fund.

Council also approved updates to the city's tree ordinance that will allow the city to remove trees that threaten public right of way that are on private property and charge the property owner for the work if they fail to remove the tree after being notified of the problem. Councilwoman Pam Harris asked for clarification and was concerned about disputes between neighbors over trees but that would not be covered under the ordinance, only threats to public right of ways.

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Council also approved paying off short term credit lines that were used to purchase new police vehicles and for paving. The two loans, totaling some $1.5 million will be paid off out of the over $15 million fund balance.

Council spent most of their time on the budget discussing the non-profit agencies and ended up leaving most of the agencies at the same amount as the previous year. Most agencies had been reduced by 10 percent last year and the year before. Discussions included giving increses to the Cumberland Co. Playhouse and the Fair Park Sr. Center. The playhouse was increased over the previous year to $30,000 and the Fair Park was increased to $25,000. At the current time the Chamber of Commerce remains at $77,400, the same amount as last year. The city manager Greg Wood indicated he is working with the Chamber on a contract to document the work they do on behalf of the community as part of their funding.

Chamber of Commerce looks to next steps with Targeted Industry and Workforce Study

Editor's note: Info provided by the Crossville-Cumberland Co. Chamber of Commerce and how the information in the Younger Associates report will be used.

Previous Story on Report.

Chamber of Commerce Office

At their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, May 11th, the Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce discussed the Younger Associates report, “Target Business Sector & Workforce Analysis”. This extensive report was almost two years in process since the public sector funding was committed in July of 2015 and fundraising was completed in June of last year. The report looked at a number of factors impacting our community’s ability to attract new companies and help grow the companies already here. Here are just some of the report’s highlights:

1. In the ten counties making up the Cumberland County Labor Shed (where employees come from), Cumberland County loses more folks going to work out-of-town than those who are driving here for work.
2. Cumberland County’s estimated population is 58,811; but, while we will continue to grow, our growth rate has slowed since 2010 and we will continue to lag the rate of growth in the State of Tennessee.
3. An estimate of the total labor shed is roughly 327,000 people.
4. Cumberland County has a wealth of higher education institutions that serve the 10 county labor shed.
5. The study found that there is a “potential part-time hidden labor supply” in groups:

• Age 18-64 (not employed but interested in working part-time) estimated at 11,916
• Retired  (but interested in working part-time) at 4,482

       6. Younger Associates conducted a four-day “intercept survey” getting the opinions of folks just out                        shopping, banking, attending the Friday at the Crossroads event, and so on.  Over 760 surveys were                    completed and some of those highlights include:

• Only 25.9% of people who are currently employed are interested in training for new job skills; a smaller portion than found in other labor shed areas,
• Most people who have a second job are self-employed in their second job (60.3%)
• Of those not currently employed, but interested in finding work, only 9.1% cited disability as the reason for not being employed-other surveys have found this number to be as high as 40%.
• From surveys of those 65+, approximately one quarter of retirees would be willing to help recruit their former business to locate in Cumberland County and about the same amount would be interested in mentoring and helping to educate students about career paths.

        7. The “primary recommended industry targets” include:

• Fabricated metal product manufacturing
• Electrical equipment component manufacturing
• Motor vehicle manufacturing (mid to long-term)
• Wood product manufacturing
• Non-metallic mineral product manufacturing

This is far from an exhaustive listing of information contained in the report; but, now the question is, what are the next steps? Chamber President, Brad Allamong indicated, “We now have in our possession a report that can guide us in determining our most valuable resource-our people-to prepare them for the jobs of the future. Clearly, some of the work is already well underway with the Frontline Leadership Training Program (starting its third program this week), and discussions with the education partners who have been meeting on a regular basis for the past three years.”

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The initial work will be to farm out the report to various groups, the Chamber’s Workforce Development Council, the 40+ contributors to the Horizon Campaign that paid for the study, the recently formed Executive Managers Group, and others to get their input and response to guide the Chamber Board in setting priorities and unfolding position statements in various areas.

The Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce Board took formal action to accept the report as was presented by Younger Associates and deemed that the staff could immediately expedite payment of the remaining fees owed for services rendered under the agreement. Vicki Baucum, Chairman of the Board stated, “With the additional 80 hours pledged by Younger Associates in their response to our RFP, work will be able to continue as we review this data in detail with our various study groups-especially in the area of education preparedness and priming the pump for local industry’s needs in a pool of ready-to-go employees.”

Chamber of Commerce Workforce Study interviews coming April 6 through 8

The Crossville/Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce comprehensive analysis of the local workforce in the 10 county labor market is underway and local residents and business are being asked to help.

“The project will position our region to compete in the global economy for the best economic development opportunities and jobs,” said Brad Allamong, president/CEO of the Chamber. In the short term this data will assist existing businesses in finding qualified available. It will also help workforce agencies match workers with jobs and training programs. Long-term, this project will provide planning data to prepare the workforce for the new economy, which requires higher skills.

This study will include a labor supply survey, to be conducted among working-age people via brief personal interviews at numerous local sites. “To achieve the greatest level of success we need the help of individuals in the community,” explained Allamong. “We ask people to stop and talk to our surveyors when they are in the area.”

Survey teams will be in various locations in Cumberland County Thursday April 6 through Saturday April 8 conducting brief in-person interviews with area residents. The survey only takes a couple of minutes to complete but gathers very important information about workers and job skills available in the region. Names are not collected and survey responses are anonymous.

Younger and Associates, a Jackson Tennessee economic development research firm is conducting the study. For more information about the study or the survey, contact the Chamber at (931) 484-8444.

Grant for development of industrial site at I-40 and 127-N received for Interchange Business Park.

Mayor James Mayberry announces the successful award for the Crossville's industrial site grant.

Said Mayberry, “The City appreciates the confidence of the State of Tennessee in awarding this grant. Cumberland County and the Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce have been invaluable partners in this project, the property evaluation program, and economic development. Our community's recent redirection and focus on economic development was jumpstarted by the Horizon Initiative in 2015, an innovative project and collaborative effort between the City of Crossville, the City of Pleasant Hill, the City of Crab Orchard, Cumberland County, Crossville-Cumberland Chamber of Commerce, and educational entities in Cumberland County, Tennessee to develop a comprehensive strategy designed to guide our growth and movement. We look forward to what the future holds for Crossville and Cumberland County in this next step in economic and industrial development.”

The grant is for $500,000 with the city and county both committing $250,000 each to complete the project. 

The proposal is to use a 20 acres site in the Interchange Business Park 

to have a location ready for the construction of a 200,000 square foot building 

with space for loading docks and parking ready for construction to start.

In addition, funds were awarded to the Plateau Partnership Park in Westal. Plateau Partnership Park was awarded $469,350 for construction of the primary access into the park, construction of access road to the site of the proposed wastewater treatment facility, and grading of the wastewater treatment facility site

The official announcement from state is below:

GOVERNOR HASLAM, COMMISSIONER ROLFE ANNOUNCE 

18 COMMUNITIES TO RECEIVE SITE DEVELOPMENT GRANTS 

Grants to prepare industrial sites for market 

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe announced today that 18 communities and local organizations will receive $6.2 million in Site Development Grants. 

The Site Development Grant program, part of the larger Rural Economic Opportunity Act passed in 2016, helps communities prepare industrial sites for businesses. 

“Providing more opportunities for citizens in rural Tennessee is one of our top priorities and with the assistance of the Site Development Grants, the rural communities receiving these grants will be ready for investment and economic success,” Haslam said. “We are strengthening our future workforce through programs like Tennessee Promise, and I look forward to seeing these 18 communities succeed and grow for the next generation of Tennesseans.” 

“I want to congratulate all 18 communities on being awarded the Site Development Grants,” Rolfe said. “These grants are designed to assist rural Tennessee communities to be better equipped for economic growth. We are proud to see these communities investing in themselves and anticipate seeing each community thrive in our state.” 

The grants assist communities in finalizing infrastructure and site improvements for Select Tennessee Certified Sites and sites that will go through the site certification process. The projects prepare the sites for new business operations and jobs. In total, 33 communities have been awarded Site Development Grants with 15 communities receiving the grants in 2016.

“With the help of the Rural Economic Opportunity Act and these Site Development Grants, communities receiving these funds will be one, two and three steps closer to investment and growth. I am excited to see our rural communities have the opportunity to submit sites and compete on an even bigger level than before," Amy New, TNECD assistant commissioner of rural development, said.

The Site Development Grant is part of the suite of Select Tennessee programs and works in conjunction with the Site Certification program. An advisory committee of staff from TNECD, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture selected these 18 sites from a pool of 28 applications. 

The application process was competitive with grants awarded based on benefit to the community, economic impact, leveraged resources, and ability to implement a successful project. 

Each application was supported by the community’s senator and representatives in the Tennessee General Assembly.

Who remembers this promotion to encourage Economic Development

Once upon a time there were lots of these bumper stickers on cars in 

Cumberland County and Crossville. Did you?

A promotion of the Chamber of Commerce from around 25 years ago or so.  Inviting companes to manufacture things, to "Make it on the mountain."

Chamber's Targeted Industry Analysis and local workforce analysis underway by Memphis Firm Younger Assoc.

Work is getting underway on the targeted industry study and workforce analysis both commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce as part of the Horizon Initiative plan.

The Chamber raised over $120,000 in order to receive $40,000 from each of the city and county governments as part of the plans and study to improve the local area's chance at bringing in additional jobs.

Sharon Young, left and Lana Suites, right of Younger Associates

Sharon Younger, president of Younger & Associates of Memphis heads the firm hired to do the studies and spent some time with local media to explain what they will be doing and how they will be doing it. Younger was visiting Crossville to look at the area and meet with stakeholders for the study including elected officials, chamber members and education leaders. In addition to Younger, the firm's research director Lana Suites was also part of the visiting team.

The firm will be making additional community visits and reports with the chamber and stakeholders including gathering information for an in depth study of the local workforce, their education and skill levels, barriers to employment, whether they are adequately or under employed and other information of interest to potential employers looking at Crossville.

One of the issues facing the community in attracting new companies is the available work force and their level of education. The firm will be interviewing a statistically valid sample of the population and these interviews will take place typically where a wide variety of the population goes such as shopping locations. These surveys are expected to take place in early April. Along with the work in the community, the firm will be using data from local state and federal data sources as well as other information in order to tie all the information together.

A bit later on in the process, the firm will return to meet with employers to ask them what they're needs are as well as what the capacity of the local education components to see if they have the necessary programs and capacity for what the employers say they are seeking.

Younger explained that the firm has already looked at the area and how employees travel from one county to another and the commute time. One interesting bit of information showed that even though many workers from surrounding counties traveled into Cumberland County there were also a number of workers who traveled out of Cumberland County to work. According to Younger, that information shows that if there were adequate jobs locally there is a group of the workforce that could take those jobs.

She said she had a positive impression of the community including the downtown and industrial area, both things that companies look for.   

2017 Tennessee Women’s Bowling Championship Tournament starts Saturday.

This Saturday, March 4th, the  2017 Tennessee Women’s Championship Tournament (the State Women’s Tournament) will begin here in Crossville at Plateau Lanes. This will be the third and final tournament of three state-wide tournaments that Plateau Lanes secured in 2016 and this year. The 2016 Women’s Senior Singles and 2016 Women’s Queens Tournaments were held last fall; but, the event starting this weekend will run for four consecutive weekends through March. Close to 200 bowlers/guests could make their way to the Plateau for each of the coming four Saturdays/Sundays, which should find more stays in our hotels, restaurant business and mini-shopping trips when the ladies aren’t scheduled to be at the lanes.

The Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce  committed $2,000 to sweeten the pot for the three tournament prize funds and lure the tournaments to Crossville. Chamber President, Brad Allamong noted, “If you just stop and think about the impact on our community from a four person bowling team coming from, let’s say Memphis, consider what we would see from 50 bowling teams might add to our local economy for each of the next four weekends. Granted, not every team will have a two-night overnight stay, but this means a number of meals, gas for the trip home and other purchases-all putting more tax back into the local economy.”

Members of the Cumberland County Bowling Association will be on-hand to greet the ladies as they check-in for one of three scheduled “shifts” each day of the weekend. Bowlers bowl team event on Sunday and their doubles/singles event on Saturdays of the 2-day event. Plateau Lanes has made significant investments to make needed improvements and the bowling alley has never looked better!

Check out Plateau Lanes website.

CROSSVILLE FLASHBACK February 2000: Road Improvements to Elmore & near CCHS, Chamber promotes Golf

News from the Crossville city council meeting February 2000

Crossville city council approved moving forward with two road improvement projects that staff and city officials have been studying since last year.

The first project is to help the situation on Elmore Road between Main Street and West Avenue. The state will take the current four lanes, mill the asphalt surface and repave the road striped with five lanes including a center turn lane. The road itself will not be widened, but the lanes adjusted within the current road width. According to correspondence from the Tennessee department of transportation, the two outside lanes will be 11 feet wide while the three remaining lanes will each be 10 feet wide.

A state study of the number of wrecks put the road’s accident rate at almost three times the state average. The short one-third of a mile stretch has tallied 130 accidents in the last three years, 40 of those were rear-end type accidents.

The city’s piece of the project will be to replace the sensor loops in the road that operate the automatic traffic signals and adjust the signal heads as necessary. Public Works director Richard Campbell has estimated the cost to the city at around $5,000.

The other road improvement project approved by council was to make Stanley Street and Fourth Street three lanes in the area of Cumberland County High School. In addition to the road widening proposed, the city plans to build a one-lane drive from Stanley Street across the front lawn at CCHS as a quick student drop off or pick up area. The city has been studying the congestion problems caused by both the morning and afternoon school traffic rush for several months at the request of school officials.

The total estimated cost for the complete package is $75,000. The state will fund around $45,000 of the project leaving about $30,000 to be paid for out of the city’s budget. Council members discussed the fact that their intentions have been to use their portion of the additional sales tax revenue from last year’s sales tax increase referendum for road improvements. Sales tax collections from the holiday shopping season increased dramatically over previous years. October and December sales tax revenue increased over $100,000 with November almost that much.

Both road improvement projects were approved by a unanimous vote of the council.

Don Hinch updated the city council on tourism and different ways the Chamber of Commerce promotes the local area to potential visitors. In addition to a brochure promoting overall tourism, the chamber has started promoting a trademarked logo and slogan of Crossville as the golf vacation capital of Tennessee. According to Hinch an estimated 400,000 rounds of golf were played in Cumberland County last year.

The Chamber has developed a multi-page golf brochure, the 2000 Lifestyle magazine and placed ads in the state tourism and golf magazines. Currently, through a state tourism grant chamber employees man the two Cumberland County I-40 rest areas during daylight hours. An estimated 200,000 vehicles stop in at the rest areas while it is manned and visitors have a chance to ask questions and pick-up information on area attractions.

Council also passed a resolution in opposition to action considered by the state legislature that would balance the state budget by reducing the so-called state shared taxes returned to Crossville. Currently the city receives almost $1 million a year from the program and estimates city property taxes would have to raised by 60 cents per $100 of value to offset the loss of all that state funding. Currently city property taxes are 70 cents and the increase would nearly double property owners’ city tax bill. City taxpayers could also face an increase in their county property tax bill of nearly 44 cents per 100 value.

In other action, council:

• Commended public works director Richard Campbell for his “exemplary” service as interim city manger;
• Recognized Crossville Elementary third grader Barbara Brady as the student of the month. Teacher Glenn Linebaugh said Barbara was an excellent student with excellent behavior and helped others;
• Directed city attorney Lanny Colvard to send a letter to Highways, Inc. requesting payment for the estimated $7,000 to $10,000 still owed to the city.
• Increased city attorney Colvard’s hourly billing rate from $100 to $125 per hour.
• Deferred action on a request by the Art Circle Library for further study and deferred action on establishing Martin Luther King Day as a city holiday.

Chamber chooses consultant for Target Industry Analysis and Workforce Development Strategy.

The Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce has selected Younger Associates of Jackson, Tennessee to consult on the completion of a target industry analysis and workforce development strategy for Cumberland County. The work will begin on February 22nd and is anticipated to wrap up in early May with a presentation of findings.

Chamber of Commerce

An RFP was created in mid-November with responses due by mid-December from companies who are in the business of assisting communities with such studies and six proposals were received. After preliminary scoring of the proposals, video conferences were held with five companies and the presentation of Younger Associates was preferred by a strong majority of those who had been involved in some aspect of the selection process. The bottom line to the RFP came down to two primary questions:

1.       Since Cumberland County has an excellent location (Interstate 40 cuts through the County), how can we position ourselves to be attractive to small-medium industrial interests and what companies (clusters) might find Cumberland County an attractive location for future expansion, and

2.       What workforce development strategy should we follow to not only help us in attraction of new investment; but, serve the current needs of existing industry?

“One of the attractive features to Younger Associates approach was their analysis of the workforce and drawing conclusions from that information,” noted Chamber President, Brad Allamong. “Their proposal included final report presentations to TECD and TVA, was within budget, included an additional 80 hours of consultation beyond the end of the project and very importantly was from a company who is based in Tennessee and aware of similar Tennessee challenges in meeting workforce demands.”

Some of Younger Associates clients include: Central Virginia Partnership, Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Greater Jackson Alliance in Mississippi, the North Alabama Council of Local Governments, the Greater Memphis Chamber and the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce. Ray Evans, Economic Development Director for the Plateau Partnership Park and one of the City’s representatives on the committee to select the consultant, said “I believe the selection of Younger Associates is an excellent choice for the community. The committee’s comfort level with Sharon Younger was extraordinary.”

Sharon Younger is the President of Younger Associates and she has worked with TVA to develop successful strategies for recruiting the plastics and automotive industries into the Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi region. Her firm worked with TVA to analyze the economic impact of the megasite program by analyzing the activity in five megasites and the strategies for developing two additional megasites. She has over twenty-five years of experience in her field and is a frequent speaker at national conferences for professional organizations.