Officials headed to Canada to recruit industry
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Rogers, in his role as county executive, and Rigsby, as the county’s director of economic development, will be part of a group of 30 from around the state which will be touting the benefits Tennessee has to offer businesses which wish to locate in the United States.
Rogers feels the trip will have a positive long-term effect, even if there are no immediate results.
“I’m not getting my hopes up that we’ll come back with five or six new plants,” Rogers said. “But I feel like it was an honor the state asked us to go, to represent Tennessee and Warren County to try and get some jobs.”
Delegates will be leaving from Nashville on Monday, Sept. 20 and traveling to Toronto, where they will attend meetings with Canadian companies, some arranged by the state, and some set up at their own discretion. State Economic and Community Development Commissioner Matt Kisber will make the trip, and will be speaking at a luncheon of the Toronto Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce.
The state is providing two contacts per delegate, and Rigsby said he and Rogers will be taking advantage of that.
“We’re going to split up,” Rigsby said. “We’re going to each go to two different delegates, so we’ll have four prospects that they’ll provide us.”
Rigsby also plans to take advantage of the trip by scheduling other meetings while in Canada.
“We’re going to have some free time in there where we can make other contacts,” he said. “I’m in the process of trying to locate some other possibilities, some other interviews I can set up while I’m there besides the four.”
Rigsby said Canada has a wide range of industries which want to expand into the US, and the state is working to make those companies aware of what Tennessee has to offer. Rigsby said he is preparing packages to present to the contacts.
Rigsby said there is enough Canadian industry the state actually has a full-time representative in Canada who helps set up these kinds of trips.
Rigsby said Warren County has a lot to offer industry, and he hopes to make companies aware of those advantages.
“Our location is one of the main things that we have to offer,” he said. “We’re within 500 miles of the majority of the population of the eastern United States right here. We’re located centrally in Tennessee. We have access to interstates. We’re an excellent location.”
Rigsby said the Carrier closing could be turned into an advantage in this situation. He noted the fact a building of that size will be available in the near future, at a very reasonable price, either as a lease or purchase, could be a major incentive.
“We’re going to tell them we have an industrial park,” Rigsby said. “And we are willing to help them build a building, or help provide them with land to build a building, with the infrastructure to put a plant in. We’re going to tell them about everything we have to offer. We’re going to tell them about the quality of life we have here.”
Rigsby said this is the first time, as far as he knows, that representatives from the county have actually gone outside the country to recruit industry.