Building on the successes of the first phase of a cooperative regional economic development campaign, Innovation Valley, Inc. has been formed. This new organization is reinvigorated with new partners and additional goals.
Nearly five years ago, private and public organizations engaged in a joint economic development campaign. This unique regional partnership led to tremendous economic success. It attracted new jobs, recruited new companies, facilitated new business expansions and investment, and supported new entrepreneurial endeavors. The successor is committed to building on the success of the first five years.
“The first five years of the regional economic development campaign were a big success,” says Rhonda Rice, executive vice president at the Knoxville Chamber. “But that was just a first phase. It is now essential that the entire region press on and build upon that initial success.”
Innovation Valley, Inc. will serve as the support organization for the partners participating in the regional economic development campaign. The partners are the Blount County Chamber of Commerce, the Knoxville Chamber, the Loudon County Economic Development Agency, the Oak Ridge Economic Partnership, The Roane Alliance, and the Tellico Reservoir Development Agency.
“We thought it was critical that we become part of this new phase of regional business, community, and economic development,” says Bryan Daniels, executive vice president of the Blount County Industrial Development Board. “Blount County has a lot to contribute to the regional effort, and the region has a lot to contribute to Blount County. Together we can do more than indepently.”
Without exception, the Innovation Valley, Inc. partners represent the communities immediately adjacent to the 25-mile corridor that extends from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the McGhee Tyson Airport. These communities are also positioned to capitalize on the region’s top research and development capabilities and have a significant concentration of technology businesses.
“The coming together of these partners is significant,” says Thom Mason president and CEO of UT-Battelle LLC and chair of the Innovation Valley, Inc. board of directors. “Each of these communities and organizations has the assets and ability to attract and grow cutting-edge businesses, but working together in this regional partnership they all strengthen that ability and increase the likelihood of success.” Mason joins Jimmy Haslam and Kevin Clayton as the founding Board Members. Other regional business leaders will be named to the board at a later date.
Together, the partners will work to implement the strategies recommended in a comprehensive five-year economic development strategic blueprint developed by the nationally recognized consulting firm of Boyette Levy. Through intensive interviews with many business leaders, the firm examined the region’s assets and shortcomings and identified strategies that will help address the weaknesses and capitalize on the strengths.
The blueprint included a recommendation to form Innovation Valley, Inc, the organization that will lead the regional effort. It will be responsible for ensuring that the strategies are implemented.
Innovation Valley, Inc. will be an investor-directed program designed to recruit, retain and expand business growth throughout the region. There are specific strategies defined in the blueprint – some align with the previous five-year phase of the economic development campaign, some build on those initial tactics.
The program will continue to focus on recruiting new companies, retaining and helping existing companies expand, and supporting the establishment of new, innovative companies. Innovation Valley, Inc. will work closely with ORNL and UT to identify companies poised for growth or ready to launch products developed in association with the Lab or the Spallation Neutron Source. In addition, the partnership will focus on several new program areas including education and workforce, technology and entrepreneurship, and public policy. These new strategies will support the area’s economic development by making it more attractive for employers and more livable for workers.
“The most important program in this Strategic Blueprint is Education and Workforce Development,” according to the blueprint. By improving education and workforce development programs, the region will not lose “its greatest competitive advantage – a highly educated and skilled workforce. In addition, for technology companies, one of the most important factors in selecting a location is having a qualified workforce.” The education and workforce development tactics recommended will ensure the Innovation Valley has the talent necessary to support existing companies and the industry of the future.
“If we do not achieve the goals recommended in the Education and Workforce Development strategy, our economy will struggle,” says Mike Edwards, the Knoxville Chamber’s president and CEO. “But if we do reach the goals – and I believe we will – then the region’s economic prosperity is virtually assured.”
The team will continue to target advertising to site selection consultants (the real estate professionals that commonly work with businesses looking to relocate or expand), corporate executives and business owners. This marketing will use the well-established Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley brand. The brand was conceived as a way to quickly identify the Knoxville-Oak Ridge region in the mind of the public, and it draws from the region’s strengths of location, intellect and natural environment.
The Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley – much like the Silicon Valley or the Research Triangle – is a geographic identifier that quickly causes readers and listeners to think of the area. Positioned at the intersection of three interstate highways, the region is a logistical hub and has easy access to markets across the United States.
The brand also recognizes the intellectual and research-based assets of the area. These include ORNL, the Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the University of Tennessee, among others. Together, these institutions employ some of the leading scientists and engineers in the world. Finally, the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley brand recognizes the unique natural resources and beauty of the Tennessee Valley. When combined, these ideas of brains, beauty and backdrop come together in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley brand.
Boyette Levy recommended that the Innovation Valley, Inc. partnership focus its recruiting and marketing efforts on 13 target industries, and identified specific, related sub-categories ripe for location and growth in the region. These segments align with the technology-related assets of the Innovation Valley and are strategically selected to attract the types of high paying jobs that would transform the region and lead to a significant improvement in standards of living. The target industries are: Agricultural Research and Development; Materials Science; Media Technology; Nanotechnology; Renewable Energy; Automotive Suppliers; Pleasure Boat Manufacturing; Warehouse/Distribution; Logistics Services; Regional Headquarters; Retirement Services; Shared Service Centers; Venture Capital Firms.
To measure the progress in achieving the goals, metrics have been established. In addition to the numbers reported as a part of Jobs Now! – such as the number of net new jobs, non-residential capital investment, and the increase in the annual average wage – Innovation Valley, Inc’s measures will include the number of new business start-ups, existing industry headquarter visits, high school graduation rates, and the percentage increase in the quality housing stock.
“These are ambition goals and the measurements will hold us to high standards,” says Rice. “However, the organizations that are partnering in Innovation Valley, Inc. have all committed to reaching them. We are all excited about what the future holds, and the significant impact we can have on that future through this campaign.”
