TVA and Economic Development

TVA helps make the Tennessee Valley’s economy stronger by building business and community partnerships that bring jobs to our region and keep them here.  TVA partners with other groups throughout the region, including public power distributors, regional and local economic development associations, state agencies, chambers of commerce, and communities, to support economic growth in the Valley by:

• Delivering reliable, competitively priced power that makes the Valley an attractive place to start or expand a business.
• Working with Valley communities to help businesses thrive and to bring new high-quality jobs to the region.
• Offering an array of services and financial resources, including capital investment loans for new and growing businesses, site-selection assistance, and small- and minority-business support.
• Providing state and local governments across the Valley with annual tax-equivalent payments that help support education, road construction and other vital community needs. 

TVA's economic development services fall under three broad areas:

• Global Business and Community Development offers industrial recruiting services and regional and community development assistance to communities throughout the Tennessee Valley region.
• Business Resources delivers products and services to stimulate job creation, leverage capital investment, and meet the expansion and retention needs of existing industries. TVA also helps link Valley communities with business opportunities, expansions, and retentions and helps women- and minority-owned businesses increase their job creation and capital investment opportunities.
• Technical Services provides general engineering design services to help industrial prospects make sound location decisions and helps TVA administer grants for the Appalachian Regional Commission. 

Recent Highlights

• TVA’s economic development efforts in 2009 helped attract or retain almost 26,000 jobs and leveraged nearly $4.2 billion in capital investment.
• Site Selection named TVA one of the Top Utilities of the Year for outstanding economic-development achievements in 2008. This was the fourth consecutive year TVA was named a top utility by the international magazine, which is delivered to more than 44,000 executives of fast-growing companies.
• In March 2009, TVA released an upgraded version of TVAsites.com, an interactive Web site that promotes the sale or lease of industrial buildings and land in the Valley region. The site helps communities achieve a global reach in the site-selection process. The site offers Google™ mapping with 13 layering options and satellite, terrain and street views. 
• TVA joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee and others to create the Volunteer State Solar Initiative, a $63 million investment to advance job creation, education, research and renewable-power production in Tennessee. The initiative will establish the Tennessee Solar Institute at UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the West Tennessee Solar Farm, a 20-acre power generation facility in Haywood County.