The Tennessean
Published: December 21, 2008
Published: December 21, 2008
Other states must be looking at Tennessee in amazement. In one of the bleakest economic years in recent memory, this state has landed a $1 billion Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga and a $1 billion semiconductor plant in Clarksville. To be sure, the state sweetened the pot with attractive incentives, but those investments look very wise in establishing job magnets at a time most of the nation is seeing jobs being lost at alarming rates.
Hemlock Semiconductor is investing its money in the Montgomery County site, which is expected to create at least 500 good-paying jobs. It's being called the biggest economic impact on Clarksville since nearby Fort Campbell was built in the 1940s.
Hemlock will make polycrystalline silicon, which is used to make solar panels, putting Tennessee squarely into the cutting edge of the emerging alternative energy market. The substance is also used in various electronic devices. Even the construction of the site is expected to involve 1,200 workers in a job that is expected to take 3½ years to complete. The plant eventually will employ more than 800 people once it's fully operational. Those involve a lot of high-tech jobs. The process of making polycrystalline silicon essentially involves turning quartz into solar cells. The site, which could conceivably be even bigger than the Volkswagen or Nissan operations in the state, will be on the 1,215-acre Commerce Park location, a TVA megasite certified in 2006.
It does come at a cost to the state, but from all appearances, the work of the Bredesen administration and the legislature that has supported economic investment has paid off. Even in the face of this year's tight financial picture, the Bredesen team shrewdly measured its chances of luring major industrial investments. Gov. Phil Bredesen and Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Matt Kisber played their cards well, maintaining economic incentive funds at a time it would be easy to give up on them. The governor noted during recent budget hearings that it might be time to pull back after the current round of incentives might be used. Now, the state can say the attractiveness of the state for the semiconductor site was handled deftly.
Hemlock will get up to $125 million in state incentives, in addition to a 50-percent break on the local property taxes for 23 years. The package includes $100 million in infrastructure improvements at the site, and $6.4 million in work-force grant money will be provided for training at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville. The company will qualify for corporate tax breaks depending on the number of people it hires.
The initial $1.2 billion investment by the company could grow to $2.5 billion.
Semiconductors may not be as easy to understand as cars, like Volkswagen's, to many Tennesseans. But such a sizeable investment in a competitive market represents a serious commitment that Tennesseans will undoubtedly appreciate even more in time. The announcement is also a tribute to the efforts of local leaders in Clarksville.
The plant is a massive undertaking. Tennessee should embrace the development enthusiastically. It would be a major plus at any time, but it is especially so at such a troubled economic time in the nation's history.
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