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Knoxville, TN is the sixth best mid-sized city for jobs in an annual Forbes magazine ranking of 398 U.S. metros. Knoxville was 9th in the 2011 list, and rose in the ranking primarily because of a 3.1 percent growth in year-over-year jobs.

"The Knoxville region is an exciting, innovative place to do business," said Mike Edwards, president & CEO of the Knoxville Chamber. "The research and science assets of Knoxville and Oak Ridge make this area a leader in energy and technology, two of the key factors of job growth according to Forbes."

Forbes noted that the 2011 list of Best Cities for Jobs was dominated by locations that depended heavily on government employers. In 2012, "Instead of government, the big drivers of growth now appear to be three basic sectors: energy, technology and, most welcome of all, manufacturing." The Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley is home to the University of Tennessee, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 National Security Complex, and other Department of Energy facilities. These organizations are on the cutting-edge of energy technologies, materials science including carbon fiber, high-speed computing, and other research and development efforts, and make the region attractive to private sector employers.

Over the last twelve months, the Knoxville region saw many companies announcing the addition of new jobs. This includes Provision's Center for Proton Therapy (100 jobs), Republic Plastics (100 jobs), Scripps Networks Interactive (100 jobs), EdFinancial (150 jobs), Goodson Brothers Coffee Company (20 jobs), G.C. Services (65 jobs), Holston Gases (30 jobs), TeamHealth (160 jobs), Virginia College (120 jobs), Legends Fitness (55 jobs), Denso Manufacturing (75), and Comcast (55 jobs).

Within the last year, ORNL has helped develop the Carbon Fiber Consortium in the region, which will give private industry, government agencies, and educational institutions the opportunity to work together to accelerate the development, demonstration, and commercial adoption of new carbon fiber and composite materials and processing techniques in many different industries. The Carbon Fiber Technology plant is an example of how the region is working together and of an industry where future job growth will occur. Other manufacturers in this region such as PetSafe, Clayton Homes, Toho Tenax, and Denso continue grow and take advantage of regional technology assets.

To capitalize on the technology resources, a regional economic development effort known as Innovation Valley works with local entrepreneurs and existing businesses to grow jobs. Regional economic development professionals also collaboratively work to attract companies and new jobs. Across the U.S., the type of regional cooperation seen in the Innovation Valley is unparalleled and the Innovation Valley serves as a best practice community in that regard.

The Innovation Valley is also on the cutting edge in workforce, targeted marketing, and technology-led economic development. The region's focused workforce development efforts will contribute to the future employment pool being better prepared than employees in other areas and that alone can attract new employers and high-wage jobs. The Innovation Valley is carefully recruiting companies that can not only benefit from the region's transportation, science, and technology assets, but also contribute to its momentum. According to Battelle, the Innovation Valley is the only region with a national laboratory that actively works in partnership with scientists and researchers to recruit companies and turn scientific discoveries into commercially viable products.

WUOT aired an interesting report on the Knox County STEM Academy housed in the L&N station in downtown Knoxville. It shows the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math in today's education and workforce.

According to WUOT, "STEM is a trendy word in education and employment circles these days. The federal government spent nearly $3.5 billion last year on STEM projects, and state legislatures are getting in on the action now too. From the Southern Education Desk, WUOT's Christine Jessel explains what STEM is and how Tennessee education officials hope a $2 million STEM project in East Tennessee helps connect the Southeast to science education."

Listen here.

According to a survey released Tuesday by ManpowerGroup and published by Forbes magazine, Knoxville is currently the best city for employment outlook. Twenty-five percent of Knoxville employers surveyed expect to add jobs during the Spring 2012 quarter.

The Institute for a Competitive Workforce, a nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, announced Sunday, March 4, 2012 that Knoxville Chamber president and CEO, Mike Edwards has been named chairman of the board.

The Knoxville Chamber released the responses to a questionnaire distributed to all candidates running for the Knox County School Board. The Chamber asked candidates to respond to fifteen questions that cover a range of topics including the role of the school board, experience, budgets, and measurements of success.

The Knoxville Chamber and Pellissippi State want to help students land jobs while improving the labor pool as the community college looks to add a new East Knox County campus. To help that make that growth a reality, business leaders, the Chamber, and officials from several secondary education facilities heard how to improve Knox County's workforce at a meeting recently hosted by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters at its Forks of the River facility.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is coming to town to give a deserving family a new home and shine a spotlight on Knoxville. Knoxville Chamber Board Member Christi Branscom and her company, Grace Construction announced the hit ABC show selected Knoxville as their destination for an upcoming show recently at a Market Square media conference. Grace Construction will serve as lead builder on the project.

The Knox County Commission approved an amended version of the Hillside and Ridgetop Protection Plan on Monday, Nov 21. The plan includes an amendment offered by Commissioner Richard Briggs that clarifies the plan is advisory and allows Commission to deviate from it when reviewing rezoning or development plans.

While the Knoxville Chamber has always been in favor of protecting the community's scenic viewscapes, it opposed the original plan because it was too broad. The Chamber supported the Briggs' amendment and was pleased to see the amended plan pass.

"There are some very good things in the Hillside & Ridgetop Protection Plan and with the amendment it is clear that those things are advisory," said Mike Edwards. "The Chamber has been involved in this process because land use decisions are so important to economic development. Businesses and individuals are attracted to this region because of its amazing scenery, but we must be able to affordably provide the housing and commercial services they need."

Voting for the amended plan were Commissioners Briggs, Anders, Hammond, Brown, Smith, and Ownby. Commissioner Wright abstained making the final vote 7-3-1.

The plan will now be sent to the Metropolitan Planning Commission board so it may review and provide comment. It can vote to recommend the plan, recommend against it, or return it to Commission with no recommendation. Commission will then have to approve the plan to make it operable.

The Knoxville City Council has scheduled the Hillside & Ridgetop Plan for consideration on Tuesday, Nov. 29. The Knoxville Chamber will be asking Council Members to amend the plan so the slope guidelines in the city and county match.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey is on a mission to identify and eliminate red tape that Tennessee businesses deal with every day. From permitting delays to inconsistent enforcement, Ramsey is soliciting stories from Tennesseans and will turn those problems into legislative solutions. Ramsey and his staff are already drafting legislation to address workers' compensation and unemployment issues. He spoke to a group of nearly 100 businesspeople in Knoxville on Nov. 21 about the effort and heard several stories about their problems. Businesspeople are also encouraged to visit www.tnredtape.com and share their issues.

Mike Edwards, president & CEO of the Knoxville Chamber spoke to a group of newly elected state legislators at a meeting of the Council of State Governments in Atlanta on November 15. His presentation focused on the importance of education and workforce development to business development and growth, economic prosperity, and personal economic wellbeing.

You can download the presentation here.

Access to low cost energy in the Tennessee Valley helps drive economic development. U.S. Senator Bob Corker recently led a roundtable discussion about the impact of electricity rates on jobs in our region. Panelists included representatives from the utility, manufacturing, and energy industries. Tennessee is well positioned for economic growth, but we need to make sure electricity rates are low so companies in our state remain competitive globally. It is clear from the discussion that the tremendous burden of regulatory compliance increases the price of power and the cost of doing business in the Tennessee Valley.

Sen. Corker's efforts to reduce overregulation by the federal government are the direct result of feedback received from companies represented at the roundtable and across the state.

A broadcast of the event is available here.

Today the Knoxville Chamber sent Knox County Commissioners and Knoxville City Council Members a revised, compromise version of the hillside protection plan. It incorporates the changes recommended by MPC, elected officials, and others.

To put the plan and proposed revisions in a format that could be approved by Council and Commission, the Chamber revised and updated MPC's December 2010 draft of the plan (1) to describe the progress which has occurred over the last ten months, (2) to incorporate the revisions proposed by MPC and Commissioner Norman, including incorporation of Councilman Della Volpe's appendix, and (3) to incorporate the additional revisions proposed by the Chamber and others. The revised, comprehensive version of the Hillside and Ridgetop Protection Plan, which puts those updates and revisions in context and highlights the changes from the original MPC plan, is available online.

"We appreciate the continuing efforts of City Council and County Commission to reach consensus on a revised Hillside and Ridgetop Protection Plan that the entire community can support," said Mike Edwards, Chamber president and CEO. "We also appreciate MPC's suggestion that the plan be revised in ways that make it clear that the plan is advisory only and not binding on future land planning decisions."

Commission and Council have scheduled a joint meeting for 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 10. The purpose of the meeting is to identify a final version of the Hillside and Ridgetop Plan that both bodies can adopt.\

"We believe this revised plan reflects a fair compromise on the issues," continued Edwards. "Most of the plan is based upon the original recommendations of the Task Force and MPC, with modifications suggested by both MPC and community groups and individuals who participated in the efforts to build consensus over the past several months. We hope City Council and County Commission will move the process forward by initiating an amendment to the General Plan in the form of this plan and sending it to MPC for its review, consideration and vote."

During the 2010-11 fiscal year the Knoxville Chamber launched new products and services, aggressively advocated for pro-business policies, pursued new businesses, and helped existing businesses grow. These accomplishments and others were discussed at the Chamber's annual meeting on Oct. 27.

Mitch Steenrod, chairman of the board, delivered an address during which he discussed the Chamber's many awards - including Chamber of the Year, Four-Star Accreditation, Ashleigh Adkins' Gold Lifetime Achievement Award, and Doug Minter's U.S. Small Business Administration Tennessee Minority Small Business Champion of the Year award. He also talked about the organization's accomplishments. Highlights include the launch of Chamber member MD and Chamber Member Rx, introduction of iKnowKnoxville.com, and work on various education and workforce development programs.

Steenrod also outlined some challenges facing the Knoxville area business community. These are the national economy, legal immigration, the continued funding of the Innovation Valley economic development program, threats to Tennessee's recent K-12 education reforms, and land use decisions.

Download the Annual Report here.

The Knoxville Chamber announced on Monday that it was encouraged by MPC's proposal that County Commission drop the Hillside and Ridgetop Protection Plan originally proposed by MPC and consider a revised plan that addresses issues raised by the Chamber and other business groups.

The Chamber consistently opposed the original MPC plan for going too far on hillside regulations and not far enough in protecting scenic ridges. MPC proposed that almost 40% of Knox County be designated as a protected area, but acknowledged that its plan related only to erosion and did not provide scenic protection for ridgetop areas. The MPC plan was rejected by County Commission and has been postponed by City Council.

As an alternative to the MPC plan, the Chamber proposed Plan B, which focused on slopes greater than 30% and provided specific standards for consideration of development proposals. It also proposed adoption of specific ordinances and regulations governing development in steeply sloped areas, with the provisions of the plan to be considered advisory guidelines. That would leave final development decisions in the hands of City Council and County Commission.

After the Chamber raised these issues, MPC acknowledged that its plan did not adequately address those concerns, and MPC proposed significant revisions to its own plan. The revisions include:

• Making the plan advisory in nature until specific codes and regulations are adopted.
• Revising the density and clearing charts to make it clear that the proposed limits are recommendations and not legally binding.
• Adopting specific standards for consideration of development plans and concept plans, rather than subjective review by MPC.
• Recommending specific changes to codes and regulations.
• Specifically acknowledging that City Council and County Commission are not bound by the plan and may approve more intense development plans.

With these revisions, MPC is effectively incorporating many of the key Plan B concepts into the revised MPC plan. While the Chamber continues to believe that Plan B is better than the MPC plan, the proposed revision of the MPC plan addresses many of the critical issues.

The Chamber looks forward to receiving the revised draft of the MPC plan and is hopeful that it will appropriately address these concerns. The effect of MPC's proposed revisions is that development will continue to be controlled by the codes and regulations, not by a vague plan, and the Chamber plans to work with MPC and the City and County Engineering Departments to ensure that the Plan B concepts are incorporated in those code and regulation amendments and used for consideration of future development proposals.

The Knoxville Chamber presented the alternative Hillside & Ridgetop plan, known as Plan B, to a joint public meeting of City Council and County Commission on Thursday, September 29. The alternative plan calls for the adoption of a Ridgetop Zoning Overlay and special development requirements in areas containing three acres or more of slopes of 30 degrees or more on parcels that have slopes of 30 percent or more and are 3 acres or greater. Development in the Ridgetop Overlay districts would have strict requirements for reforestation, limits on height and density, and use of screening or architectural and design elements that would help blend buildings into the landscape. It also calls for Knox County to adopt a Tree Plan similar to the City of Knoxville's plan.

The presentation can be downloaded here.

The Knoxville Chamber has submitted an alternate hillside and ridgetop protection plan for consideration by Knox County Commission and Knoxville City Council. The two local legislative bodies have been meeting jointly for more than eight weeks in an effort to reach consensus on a plan that balances hillside and ridgetop protection with the rights of property owners and economic development needs. The plan can be downloaded here.

"The Knoxville Chamber has long supported the protection of environmentally sensitive hillsides and ridgetops in Knox County," said Mike Edwards, president & CEO. "These unique geological features in Knoxville and Knox County should be protected from inappropriate developments that would adversely affect lower lying areas or negatively impact Knox County's scenic beauty. The plan we have submitted does just that.

The Knoxville Chamber's plan calls for the adoption of a Ridgetop Zoning Overlay and special development requirements in areas containing three acres or more of slopes of 30 degrees or more on parcels that have slopes of 30 percent or more and are 3 acres or greater. Development in the Ridgetop Overlay districts would have strict requirements for reforestation, limits on height and density, and use of screening or architectural and design elements that would help blend buildings into the landscape. It also calls for Knox County to adopt a Tree Plan similar to the City of Knoxville's plan.

"Residents and businesses alike come to and grow in Knoxville because of its fantastic quality of life. A big part of our unique character is the views of the Great Smoky Mountains and the ridgetops in our own backyard," continued Edwards. "The plan proposed by MPC provides no scenic protection, according to the MPC Executive Director, and the Chamber's plan would protect the unique character of our community by preserving our scenic viewscapes. Protection of the scenic beauty of our area is important, and I hope County Commission and City Council will adopt this plan right away."

The Knoxville Chamber has entered into an agreement with GoGrabLunch.com to become the official "Lunch Networking Website" for the Chamber and its members. Similar to online matchmaking, but focused on business development, GoGrabLunch.com helps pair professionals for one-on-one lunches at restaurants throughout the region.

The online resource allows users to create a profile, setting specific parameters for the types of professionals they want to meet and do business with. These parameters range from different industries to title. Once members create their profile and networking preferences, GoGrabLunch.com provides them a list of matching members who have scheduled lunches at specific restaurants. A member can choose a lunch from the list of pre-planned lunches or they can enter their own lunch schedule, pick the restaurant, and plan a lunch of their own.

Chamber Senior Vice President Mark Field is excited about the new partnership and the opportunities it provides members with regards to developing their networks. "While social networking has gained in popularity and is proving to be a valuable business development tool, we need to continue to emphasize the importance of building relationships face-to-face, and there is no better time to do that than over lunch" Field commented. "Our members are always looking for new ways to meet people and make connections that will lead to future business and GoGrabLunch.com provides us with a turnkey solution," he continued.

It is free for any businessperson to set-up a profile on GoGrabLunch.com, but the partnership with the Chamber will provide a valuable promotional tool for the website. "Obviously, the more professionals we have engaged in GoGrabLunch.com, the more relevant and useful the site becomes," commented Jonathan Patrick, creator of the website. "We've had a lot of success developing our database of users by utilizing social media and word-of-mouth to let people know about the website, but we are ready to take it to the next level and working with the Chamber makes a lot of sense for both of us."

Workspace Interiors, Inc. and the Knoxville Chamber celebrated the grand opening of our ‘Collaboratory’ in July.

The Collaboratory is a meeting room located in the Chamber that provides technology, facilities, and an atmosphere for groups (open to Chamber members) to meet face-to-face or via video conference. Office furniture, flat screen TV's, docking station, video conferencing, and room makeover were provided by Workspace Interiors ($20,000 value).  A special thanks to Workspace Interiors for this generous partnership. What's more, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. donated a Keurig Coffee machine and coffee. Thank you Green Mountain Coffee!

Come by any time to check our new, innovative Collaboratory!

LOS ANGELES, CA (August 4, 2011) – Knoxville Chamber Membership Development Manager Ashleigh Adkins has been recognized by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, the national association for Chambers of all sizes.

She received the Gold Circle of Champions Lifetime Achievement Award from the organization for producing 1,000 memberships or over $500,000 during her eight years with the Knoxville Chamber. She received the honor at the ACCE National Convention in Los Angeles.

“We are very proud of Ashleigh’s accomplishments and recognition,” said Mark Field, Chamber Senior Vice President of Membership. “She is a very integral part of the Chamber's mission that is designed to help drive regional economic prosperity."