News

TVA named top utility by Site Selection for third straight year

Sept. 10, 2008 — For the third year in a row, TVA has earned a ranking on Site Selection magazine's listing of the top U.S. utilities for economic development.

Site Selection bases its ranking on excellent performance in four categories: capital investment, job creation, capital investment per capita, and jobs per 10,000 in population. It also considers the opinions of top site selection consultants and the utility's investment in new generation, transmission, and renewable energy.

“Economic development is a team effort, and TVA's top-notch players closely collaborate and provide support to local power companies and strategic regional, state, and community partners,” said TVA Senior Vice President of Economic Development John Bradley. "All played an important role to help us earn this recognition. It is an amazing accomplishment to be benchmarked with utilities across the nation and achieve top decile performance three years in a row."

TVA helped attract or retain more than 45,000 jobs in 2007, and leveraged some $5.6 billion in capital investment. The agency's economic development services are focused on attracting new industry, retaining and growing existing businesses, and helping communities be better prepared for economic growth.

"Utilities play a key role as participants in the economic development efforts of cities, regions, and all areas working to improve their local business climate," said Mark Arend, editor in chief of Site Selection. “This year's Top Utilities were particularly successful in this endeavor in 2007."

Site Selection provides expansion planning information to more than 44,000 executives of fast-growing companies. The Top Utilities article appears in the September 2008 print edition and online at www.siteselection.com.