NEW BIZ
A number of retailers, from chains to local operations, and one major industry have called Dunlap, Tenn., home in the last couple of years. Below are some of the major players that have come to town.
OPEN 2011
Backdraft Donut Station
Dunlap Indoor Flea Market
Hughes Produce Market
Mann+Hummel
Tractor Supply
Verizon Wireless
Victory Motors
OPEN 2010
Caring Hearts of Dunlap
New China Buffet
Source: City of Dunlap
DUNLAP, Tenn. -- Dunlap and Sequatchie County have not regained all the ground lost during the economic plunge, but incoming industry Mann+Hummel and retailers such as Tractor Supply and Verizon Wireless are sprouting up along the town's main drag as signs of a rebound continue.
"I think it's the beginning of a new era," Dunlap Mayor Dwain Land said. "Even with the economic downturn, I think Dunlap is going to be fortunate enough to start coming out of it."
Land admits that, even with the excitement of landing a new business that promises 150 jobs or more, there's still "a lot of work to do."
The county still needs another 200 jobs or so to get back to employment levels from the middle of the last decade, but there's hope on the horizon, he said.
In just the past year, city records show local startups included an upscale used car dealership called Victory Motors, the Backdraft Donut Station downtown, the Dunlap Indoor Flea Market on the south end of town and Hughes Produce to the north.
Sequatchie and Dunlap officials now are wooing a couple of potential tenants for the former Tecumseh Power building, one of the community's major employers that shut its doors in 2009, Land said.
He wasn't sure how many jobs either of the prospective tenants might produce but said "it looks promising."
According to records at City Hall, there are 257 active businesses in town, city Office Manager Annette Brown said.
"We've probably seen at least maybe 12 to 15 actually new businesses in the last two or three years," Brown said.
Officials with Tractor Supply in Dunlap, which took up residence in the former Bi-Lo building that was shuttered in 2008, couldn't be reached for comment this week, but Dunlap officials said they appeared busy through the holidays.
Naples, Fla., transplant Dave Anderson, owner of the Backdraft Donut Station with wife, Pamela, said community response was overwhelming when their business opened in April and has been steady ever since.
"The community's been really supportive," Anderson said. "We've had people from Chattanooga, Hixson, everywhere."
Land said incoming retailers and their impact on sales-tax collections will help keep the city property tax rates as level as possible.
Local folks are more excited about jobs coming with Mann+Hummel, though, he said.
"There were 925 applicants for the Mann+Hummel job fair," he said. "It was a huge success."
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.
Ben Benton is a news reporter at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He covers Southeast Tennessee and previously covered North Georgia education. Ben has worked at the Times Free Press since November 2005, first covering Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties and later adding Marion, Grundy and other counties in the northern and western edges of the region to his coverage. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Tenn., a graduate of Bradley Central High School. Benton ...
