Put Your Business in the Center of Your Customers in Tennessee

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has presided over the creation of more than 103,000 new jobs and $12 billion dollars in new investment in Tennessee over the last three years.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen congratulates Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn on the company's announcement it will move its North American corporate headquarters to Tennessee.

Led by a governor and a commissioner of economic development, both with backgrounds in business, the State of Tennessee has experienced remarkable progress in job creation over the past three years and with that has come recognition as a state with one of the best business climates in the United States.

Governor Phil Bredesen is a chief executive who understands what it takes to make an expansion or relocation project work. Within his first few days in office, the former CEO of a NYSE-listed company issued an executive order creating the Jobs Cabinet, a panel which included the commissioners of seven different state agencies, the state's largest industry groups and leaders in higher education. The goal was for Tennessee to move quickly to expedite job creation projects and to have the state and its partners on the local level speaking with one voice to prospective companies.

Leading the Jobs Cabinet is Commissioner for Economic and Community Development Matt Kisber, a businessman with a long history business and governmental leadership, having served ten terms in the General Assembly and the chairmanship of the powerful House Finance, Ways and Means committee.

Commissioner Kisber launched a restructuring of Tennessee 's business recruitment efforts, including the creation of the FastTrack Job Training and FastTrack Infrastructure programs, both designed to provide companies with answers to their requests for assistance within a 72-hour window. Tennessee also revised its Worker's Compensation law in 2004 to increase the state's competitiveness, reducing business insurance premiums by more than $70 million dollars within the first six months of enactment. Tennessee also created a multi-tiered Jobs Tax Credit system, which allows companies to claim credits on their franchise and excise taxes by investing as little as $500,000 dollars and creating 25 new jobs.

Especially successful has been Tennessee's creation of a Headquarters Tax Incentive, which allows additional franchise and excise credits, as well as relocation grants for companies with operations in the state who move their corporate headquarters to Tennessee. To date, 23 companies have relocated their corporate headquarters to Tennessee , including well recognized brands like Nissan North America, Inc, International Paper, Louisiana Pacific, Caremark and others.

Companies across the globe have realized that having an effective time-to-market strategy for U.S. customers means a close look at Tennessee . With more than half the U.S. population within a 600-mile radius of the state, Tennessee companies can reach the majority of U.S. markets by ground within 24 hours. And with the world's busiest freight airport located in Tennessee , companies can reach overseas markets as well. Tennessee is the fastest growing export state in the U.S. over the past three years.

Low business taxes. Productive workers. Flexible incentives. Great Location. To learn more about Tennessee, go to www.tnecd.gov or e-mail our Director of Recruitment at kingsley.brock@state.tn.us .