Tennessee’s Certified Sites Attract Investment and Create Jobs

TNECD

Tennessee offers an abundance of shovel-ready industrial sites, helping attract companies that are making significant investments and creating jobs. 

Shovel-ready sites have gone through steps such as surveys, environmental studies, soil analysis, permitting, zoning and infrastructure work, and often the land has also been leveled and graded. 

SK Food Group: A Success Story in Cleveland, TN

But that work can pay off in landing new investment. One recent example is in Bradley County, where SK Food Group is building a 552,000-square-foot, LEED-certified production and cold storage distribution facility in Cleveland’s Spring Branch Industrial Park. The $205 million project is the largest single industrial project in Cleveland’s history. 

Founders established the Arizona-based custom foods manufacturer in 1942. Today, the company specializes in supplying sandwiches, wraps, snacks, flatbreads, burgers and other protein snacks for branding by corporate customers worldwide. 

Company officials said they chose the Cleveland site because of its attractive geographic location in the Southeast, and the property already had the necessary infrastructure in place, such as water, sewer, electric, gas and fiber optics. 

“We are very much looking forward to becoming part of the fabric of the local community and economy, and this project will generate 840 new jobs in the Cleveland region by 2030,” says Dustin Dixon, president of SK Food Group. 

Certified Successes: Select Tennessee Certified Sites Program

Tennessee assists communities in making their sites shovel-ready through the Select Tennessee Certified Sites program. Launched in 2012, the program is overseen by the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development (TNECD) and Ohio-based site selection firm Austin Consulting. 

“Once certified, communities can openly market their property and tell interested companies and site selectors that these are Tennessee’s best sites for development — these are the very best we’ve got,” says Kirby Lewis-Gill, TNECD site development director. “This program removes all barriers from preventing any company from sticking a shovel in the ground on day one.” 

To date, nearly 75 sites across Tennessee have been certified, with three to four sites being certified each year. Those 75 sites have led to companies constructing facilities, resulting in more than 10,000 jobs and $3.8 billion in capital investment. 

“We deal with properties that are of varying sizes, and we meet with utility representatives, zoning officials and planning experts to make sure their communities present the best picture of the site to companies showing interest,” Lewis-Gill says. “This program ensures that communities have the right assets in place for future growth.” 

To become a Select Tennessee Certified Site, a community must complete an extensive application process conducted by TNECD. 

151 Acres in Lawrenceburg 

One of the newest Select Tennessee Certified Sites is Lawrenceburg Industrial Park, which was recently annexed into the city of Lawrenceburg in Lawrence County. The certification process for the 151-acre park was completed in 2024, with the property zoned light industrial and offering convenient access to nearby four-lane U.S. Highway 43. 

“We’re now looking at another 99 acres directly east of the park to eventually turn that property into another certified site,” says Ben Barnett, director of economic development with the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce, which owns Lawrenceburg Industrial Park. “We are growing our industrial inventory for the future, being proactive with sites instead of reactive. This is a long-term play.” 

The chamber is now marketing Lawrenceburg Industrial Park, pointing out that its geographic location provides major highway access that connects to Nashville to the north, Huntsville to the south, Memphis to the west and Chattanooga to the east. 

“We are receiving interest from companies, and we’re hoping to attract automotive, aerospace, energy, food and beverage, and other industries,” Barnett says. “Another good selling point is that Lawrence County has large amounts of water and electricity to serve companies wanting to do business here.”