Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and the state's chief economic recruiter, Bob Rolfe, will head to Europe next week for an economic development trip designed to strengthen Tennessee's ties with European businesses, which have already opened more than 500 facilities in the Volunteer State.
During the week-long trip that starts Monday, Haslam and Rolfe will pitch Tennessee's advantages to a number of European businesses interested in establishing operations in the Southeast U.S. The trip will include stops in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Germany.
Tennessee led the nation in job creation from foreign direct investment in 2013 and 2015, according to IBM-PLI's Global Location Trends report. In Southeast Tennessee, major European investments include the $1.6 billion Volkswagen assembly plant in Chattanooga, the $2.5 billion Wacker Chemical plant in Charleston and two local BASF plants (all German companies), the $360 million Nokian Tyre plant in Dayton (Finland company), and the $180 million expansion of Gestamp (Spain-based company).
"We've put an emphasis on attracting more foreign direct investment to Tennessee because it brings high quality jobs to Tennessee communities and helps diversify our economy," Haslam said in a statement announcing the move today. "This upcoming trip to Europe will allow us to forge stronger ties with several European companies and build on our recent international recruitment momentum."
There are more than 500 European-owned businesses that operate in Tennessee, employing approximately 62,000 Tennesseans. Since 2011, European businesses have pledged to invest $3.8 billion in Tennessee and committed to create more than 19,000 jobs.