CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Local officials hope a future billboard welcoming Volkswagen will have the same success as an earlier Chattanooga sign aimed at plastics companies.
A few years ago the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored a billboard on Interstate 75 that touted local plastics companies, local chamber official Gary Farlow told area officials this week.
A passing motorist saw the sign and decided to open his first American plastics company, Mr. Farlow said. Starplex Scientific now has 60 employees here, he said Wednesday.
Mr. Farlow, vice president for economic development at the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce, has invited the county commission’s Finance Committee to split the cost of a new billboard with the city, the chamber and perhaps some businesses.
The billboard would be on I-75 in Hamilton County near White Oak Mountain, facing traffic coming north from Chattanooga.
“We will probably benefit from suppliers looking here,” Mr. Farlow told the committee. In fact, he said, one VW supplier already has contacted the chamber.
Mr. Farlow already has made the billboard pitch to the Cleveland City Council.
The sign would cost $10,776, he said, or $3,592 each for the city, county and chamber. That share could go lower if a fourth party agrees to pitch in, County Mayor D. Gary Davis said.
The Finance Committee on Wednesday voted to pay its share of the billboard. That recommendation will go to the full commission for a vote in two weeks.
Randall Higgins covers news in Cleveland, Tenn., for the Times Free Press. He started work with the Chattanooga Times in 1977 and joined the staff of the Chattanooga Times Free Press when the Free Press and Times merged in 1999. Randall has covered Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and Alabama. He now covers Cleveland and Bradley County and the neighboring region. Randall is a Cleveland native. He has bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Technological University. His awards ...
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