TVA’s megasite program helped lure nearly $5 billion of investments into Tennessee Valley sites from Volkswagen, Toyota and other manufacturers in the past six years.
But the biggest recruitment in the Tennessee Valley in 2009 came on a non-megasite in Charleston, Tenn., where Wacker Chemie AG will break ground in January for a $1 billion-plus polysilicon manufacturing plant. The Wacker investment was part of $4.2 billion of business projects announced in TVA’s seven-state region during 2009.
Those investments and TVA’s business assistance programs helped earn TVA a top 10 utility ranking for economic development from Site Selection magazine for the fifth consecutive year.
Roy Starner, executive vice president of Atlanta-based Site Selection, said the top utilities recognized for economic development “are engaged now more than ever in providing companies with certified sites” and “are always looking for ways to save industrial power customers money.”
The German-based Wacker Chemie chose a site near the Hiwassee River in Bradley County to build a chemical plant to serve the solar industry – the second such $1 billion-plus facility of its kind to locate in Tennessee.