Southern Honda Powersports made its first sale this week at its new 73,000-square-foot East Ridge store – a Honda Africa Twin motorcycle capable on- and off-road with a $17,900 price tag.
The business belongs to newly inaugurated Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, who decided a few years ago to avail himself of business incentives in East Ridge and relocate the venture from Workman Road in Chattanooga in a $10 million move.
Kelly said his decision to shift the dealership to East Ridge “was 100 percent” due to the Border Region Retail Tourism Development District. East Ridge recaptures the growth in sales tax collections within a designated zone and then plows those funds back into repaying investments in the area.
The zone was created for the border towns of Bristol and East Ridge by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2011.
“Chattanooga didn’t participate [in a border tax zone] for whatever reason,” Kelly said. “This [relocation to East Ridge] was a business decision made long before I decided to run for mayor of Chattanooga.”