The field of economic development may have never seen a more challenging year, stepping forward and steering communities through the pandemic as businesses have struggled through 2020.

Despite the turbulence of the past year, Chattanooga’s economic development has thrived, and we were ranked No. 10 for job growth by USA Today, with several partners and companies further investing in our economy.

These accomplishments are largely due to the work and leadership of the Chattanooga Chamber’s Greater Chattanooga Economic Partnership (GCEP), and with our community’s support, partnership and encouragement, GCEP was recognized as a 2021 Mac Conway Award Winner.

Site Selection’s Mac Conway Awards for Excellence in Economic Development recognize the top local and regional economic development agencies in the U.S. Honorees were determined by an index that examines 2020 corporate facility investment as tracked by Site Selection’s proprietary Conway Projects database. Scores were awarded based on total projects, total investment associated with those projects and jobs associated with those projects, and given to the nation’s top 20 economic development organizations.

Locations throughout the U.S. and the world compete for direct investment, and this award highlights our community’s ability to land economic development projects, including expansions and locations.

GCEP’s significant projects in 2020 included McKee Foods (consumer products), Sese Industrial (automotive), Gestamp Chattanooga (automotive), Echelon Fitness Multimedia (consumer products), Confluent Medical Technologies (life sciences) and Zeus Industrial (plastics and life sciences).

“We are thrilled to initiate our Industrial Automotive activities in the USA in such a historical location as Chattanooga, Tennessee, serving our valued customer Volkswagen, and more so on their all-new electric vehicle models,” says Alfonso Sesé, President of Grupo Sesé, which recently announced the new presence of Sese Industrial  in the Chattanooga region.

By Natalia Pérez