County?s job luck beginning to change
It?s time to start a new list when it comes to industry in Warren County.
It?s not a list of industries that have left town, but rather a list of businesses that have decided to locate here in the past six months. Jobs are slowly beginning to find their way to this community and it?s welcome news.
Industrial buildings which have long sat vacant are getting new tenants. The long list of available buildings is dwindling.
It?s uplifting any time a business decides to establish roots in Warren County. And it seems to be contagious. Once one business located here, others have been quick to follow.
Store Opening Solutions brought the first glimmer of good news when it leased a portion of the Carrier building. SOS has a fairly sizable operation in Murfreesboro and the empty Carrier facility provided a convenient ? and spacious ? location.
After a slow start, SOS is gaining momentum as evident by the increased activity around its distribution center in Morrison.
That was followed by the Gordon McGee family buying the former Powermatic building and doing extensive repairs. The building currently serves as an indoor flea market that?s recruiting new vendors by the week.
There is enough space to house up to 500 vendors if the flea market experiences tremendous growth. A flea market of that size, if it materializes, would attract thousands of visitors to McMinnville every weekend.
Those two moves have been followed by two new industry announcements in the past two weeks from Thermo Flex and Flight Deck Specialists.
Thermo Flex will set up shop at the Carrier complex and company officials believe they can start production there this month. Flight Deck Specialists will occupy the old Cookeville Tool and Die building on Belmont Drive and will take much longer to get up and running.
While the total jobs created by these companies are expected to be modest, they are a step in the right direction.
SOS officials said initially they could employ close to 100 people. Thermo Flex job figures are estimated around 30 after three years. Flight Deck Specialists will have about 15 employees in a year. The true effect of the weekend flea market will be felt more in tourism dollars and retail sales ? not manufacturing jobs.
While those numbers certainly don?t approach the job totals by Carrier and Powermatic when they were operating full throttle, they are far better than empty buildings. It shows economic activity is moving forward in McMinnville. And new jobs lead to more new jobs. Once an economy gets some spring in its step, it?s easier to maintain a steady pace.
After years of trying, Warren County is finally beginning to creep closer to the economic bulls-eye. This community is making progress and recruiting new jobs. It?s likely to produce more promising news in the future.