News

TVA region has record year for business investment

Nov. 20, 2007 — The Tennessee Valley Authority region has had a record year for new business investment. The fiscal year 2007 amount of $5.6 billion in new projects was the largest ever and a third larger than the previous year.

Toyota's decision to build a $1.3 billion assembly plant near Tupelo, Miss., accounted for a significant portion of the increased investment. Toyota selected the Wellspring Megasite as the location for the plant. The site was certified as a megasite ready for development by corporate real estate experts McCallum Sweeney Consulting.

Global truck engine manufacturer PACCAR also selected a megasite for its new $400 million plant, to be built in Columbus, Miss.

"There have been some significant announcements in the past few years that have caused a lot of people to really take notice of the Tennessee Valley," said John Bradley, TVA's senior vice president of economic development.

The megasite program was an important factor in helping Mississippi land the Toyota plant, according to former TVA chairman Glenn McCullough Jr., who is now an economic development consultant in Tupelo. "It helps differentiate the Tennessee Valley to the automotive sector and alleviates most of the risk and a lot of the time for any new project," he said.

Reliable power is also an important incentive for economic development in the Valley. As a power supplier, TVA has achieved 99.999 percent reliability every year since 2000. "A lot of the attractiveness of the Tennessee Valley is the reliability on electricity, which is sometimes even more critical than its price," Bradley said.