We're constantly trying to keep the pipeline full. While we're excited about all the good things happening now, the reality is that we know it won't stay that way.
Charles Wood of the Chattanooga Area Chamber speaks to members of the Chattanooga Times Free Press editorial board on Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.The winning location for a $360 million tire-making plant in Rhea County was pitched as “the Dayton-Chattanooga site” and is an example of new regional cooperative efforts, an official says.
“We brought in and hosted this company in Chattanooga,” said Charles Wood, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce’s vice president of economic development, about Finnish tire manufacturer Nokian Tyres.
The tire company this spring unveiled plans to build the state-of-the-art plant and hire 400 people to make all-season tires by early 2020. The Dayton location is the closest site to Chattanooga that has 300 acres that also met the company’s transportation needs, said Wood to the Chattanooga Rotary Club on Thursday.
He said the regional cooperative initiative between 16 counties in the tri-state area, called the Greater Chattanooga Economic Partnership, was kicked off late last year. Piggybacking off the regional planning efforts of Thrive 2055, supporters believe the job-recruiting program will bolster the area’s economic growth.