Megasite is on!
June 22, 2009
If there was
ever any doubt that state and local governments would
move forward with the Haywood County Megasite — forget
it.
The state legislature Thursday approved a
budget that includes $40.3 million for the 1,700-plus
acre site near I-40’s Exit 42.
A fiscal scrap between state lawmakers
two weeks ago put the funding in jeopardy, but those
issues were quickly worked out. Both Republican and
Democratic lawmakers say they see the benefit.
Governor Phil Bredesen, who has just
returned from a European industrial recruiting trip, is
expected to sign the budget bill upon his return.
Bredesen is a proponent of the site and selected the
megasite as the location of a $30 million solar power
farm.
The solar power farm will be funded
separately with a federal stimulus grant. The green
energy installation is expected to help attract a
mega-industry.
Tennessee already has three megasites —
all have landed employers that work thousands of people.
The next step is to purchase the
property. Landowners will receive about $10,000 per
acre.
Haywood County selected for high-tech solar farm
May 14, 2009
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen announced this week
that state government would build Tennessee’s largest
solar power farm in Haywood County. Bredesen surprised
even local officials with the announcement at 10 a.m. on
Wednesday.
According to the governor’s office, the $30-million-plus
solar power installation will be built at the megasite
and will cover about 20 acres. Though it is unclear
exactly where the power production facility will be
located at the site, Bredesen said it would be visible
from I-40. The megasite tracts are all located near Exit
42.
Capable of producing 5 megawatts of power, the facility
will produce enough electricity to power 700 homes.
Tennessee is home to a number of new industries that
produce components used in producing solar power. TVA
has agreed to buy the electricity the plant generates,
and Bredesen says profits will be plowed back into
growing the infrastructure at the power plant.
Leaders say the plant is also likely to attract
additional green power industry to Tennessee and make
the megasite even more attractive to prospects.
The governor did not say when he thought construction
might begin but did say the project must be approved by
the Department of Energy and the state legislature.
Funding for the project comes from federal stimulus
legislation earmarked for Tennessee and green energy
production.
Cub Cadet workers stare down unemployment with
uncompromising production
June 11, 2009
The announcement came May 6. The Cub
Cadet manufacturing plant, a star Brownsville industry,
was closing. The jaw-dropping announcement was delivered
in the conference room at the courthouse to Mayors
Franklin Smith and Webb Banks and Brownsville Radio. The
news was delivered to workers just a few minutes later.
The closing will affect nearly 500 workers — many of
them seasonal — but at least 200 working at the plant
year-round.
Terrible news that, most would believe, likely including
the company’s top executives, would cripple production
and create unusual absenteeism for the remaining weeks
the plant continued to operate.
But plant manager Greg Usery said the almost
unbelievable happened. The day after the closing
announcement the plant beat production numbers. The
day’s quota was 150 lawn mowers — Cub Cadet workers
turned out more than 160.
Since then, Usery says, “We’ve beat them (quotas) about
every day. The mood is certainly not as happy as it was
— but our people remain dedicated,” Usery said.
Usery says production’s quality checks remain extremely
high and absenteeism is “about usual.”
Plant officials also say the facility will remain open
until July 24, about two weeks longer than planned.
Usery says additional orders made the extension
possible, and he believes the work might have gone to
another Cub Cadet factory had the workers not been so
dedicated.
Cub Cadet’s plant will close in late July, but a
distribution center that could eventually hire several
dozen workers will remain open.
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