SOLUTION - Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce
Transcription
SOLUTION - Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce
CHATTANOOGA, TN YOUR NEW BACK-OFFICE SOLUTION CHATTANOOGA YOUR NEW BACK-OFFICE SOLUTION Chattanooga offers a strong legacy of entrepreneurship and is conveniently located near all of the key major markets in the South. It is a proven location for financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, and manufacturing and is home to numerous corporate headquarters. With nearly 70,000 experienced professionals dedicated to these various sectors, Chattanooga is well-equipped to be your new back-office administration solution. Chattanooga is one of the most trusted mid-sized cities for hosting new back-office operations. Critical success factors include: • A deep pool of talent, well-versed in various business sectors including insurance, telecommunications and logistic industries. Proximity to Major Markets • America’s most advanced smart grid, providing unmatched power, reliability and gigabit telecom capacity at any location. Atlanta Nashville Knoxville Birmingham • World-class technical training programs and customized academic partnerships designed to meet your company’s specific talent needs. • Business-friendly elected officials and community leaders. • A community with such outstanding economic vitality and quality of life that it’s garnering national and international attention as a model for other cities, making it an easy choice for top executives when relocating. Within 180 miles: Within 300 miles: Charlotte Louisville Memphis “Chattanooga’s gig network has helped attract $4 billion in foreign investment since the downturn and a flock of new tech entrepreneurs to the city, who revel in its green spaces, hip cultural offerings – and clean air.” 300 mil es 240 mil es LOUISVILLE 1 80 m ile s KNOXVILLE NASHVILLE es 80 m il MEMPHIS CHATTANOOGA BIRMINGHAM CHARLOTTE ATLANTA “With more than 10 years in the business-friendly Chattanooga area, we’re happy with the low cost of doing business here and the ease of recruiting from a substantial local workforce with an already strong customer service skill set.” Tim Krug Site Manager, T-Mobile T-MOBILE IS GROWING ITS SUPPORT STAFF WITH THE SPEED OF THE NATION’S FASTEST INTERNET In 2004, T-Mobile’s site selection team began analyzing potential locations for a new customer service center. The T-Mobile team lived up to its reputation for meticulously considering every angle as they culled through hundreds of possible sites. Over a six month period, Chattanooga rose to the top of T-Mobile’s list as the best location with the strongest workforce and an unparalleled ability to partner with the company to reach its goals. The new facility would be T-Mobile’s second in the state of Tennessee and would be critical in meeting the needs of the company’s growing customer base. The state of Tennessee, Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga worked seamlessly with T-Mobile to identify a viable site, create infrastructure plans to support the company’s critical telecommunications requirements, screen hundreds of local applicants and train the newly hired workers to the company’s exacting specifications. Just seven months after announcing the project, T-Mobile moved into a new facility with an initial 150 employees which has now grown to 550. Additionally, T-Mobile has announced plans for an expansion of its Chattanooga facility in the near future. With nearly 1 million people in the labor shed, multiple colleges and universities, and a strong base of financial services and back office operations, Chattanooga makes it easy to hire well-prepared employees. CHATTANOOGA WORKFORCE AND TRAINING: LARGE AND IN THE LEAD Chattanooga area wages are 16% below the national average. (Driven by a local cost of living that is also well below the average for the U.S.) In the last year alone, Chattanooga has extended its long-standing financial services heritage by adding more than 1,000 back-office and financial services jobs. We’re also taking the lead on technical workforce preparation. Educators and businesspeople are collaborating at all levels to expand our large, well-prepared, back-office and financial services workforce by providing young people with practical, applications-based training. In fact, academic partnerships have been created for a myriad of companies. Training topics include: customer service, leadership, professional/ business writing, computer skills and Lean Six Sigma programs. Labor Pool 465,256 workers (Population in labor draw area: 987,245 people) Financial Services 12,556 people in the Chattanooga MSA (5.6% of all MSA employees) $62,779 average wage per year Educational Attainment 52.7% with some college or higher (22.9% with 4-year degree or higher) Number of People Employed in Call Centers 2,500 people employed in Call Centers “Having a strong candidate pool is vitally important to our operations areas, and we are fortunate to have that resource in Chattanooga. We also benefit from the support of numerous government and civic partners whose efforts positively impact the development of our current and potential workforce.” Maria Darras Vice President, Commercial Operations BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee “Chattanooga is a great place to locate an operations center. The region has a tremendous workforce, an ideal geographic location, and a sense of civic momentum. You have something really special when you couple those factors with a low-cost operating environment.” Scott C. Pierce Senior Vice President, Government Programs BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee In August 2006, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee broke ground on a nearly 1 million square-foot corporate campus in downtown Chattanooga. Their new LEED Gold certified headquarters is home to more than 4,000 employees, including several hundred call center employees. CHATTANOOGA ONE OF AMERICA’S BEST PLACES TO LIVE Nationally ranked among the best places to live by publications like Outside Magazine and National Geographic Explorer, Chattanooga offers one of the most engaging lifestyles you’ll find anywhere: • Music: Free summer concerts every Friday evening, the 10-day Riverbend Music Festival in June and a variety of music venues. • Dining: From top-shelf, locally-sourced gourmet food to the best “down home” cooking and barbecue. Education Chattanooga’s public schools include two of the nation’s top magnet schools. Several schools offer the International Baccalaureate program. The STEM High School and HUB are dedicated to teaching science, technology, engineering and math through industry-based projects. Hamilton County is also home to 36 private and parochial schools. Higher education boasts the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Community College plus seven private universities and colleges and many private, technical training schools. • Culture: The Hunter Museum of American Art, the Chattanooga Theatre Center (community theater), the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, dozens of festivals including the Four Bridges Art Festival and much more. Give everybody a raise (without spending a cent) • Healthcare: Three major hospital systems with national rankings ranging from heart care to stroke treatment. • Median price of existing, single family homes is about $139,000. • Outdoor Adventure: The area’s mountains, rivers and lakes put you within minutes of rowing, white water rafting, hang gliding, rock climbing, boating, biking and hiking. • Shopping: From Hamilton Place, the largest mall in Tennessee, to boutique shopping and several farmer’s markets. Chattanooga offers low costs and taxes that give your executives and employees who relocate here more buying power: • ACCRA Cost of Living Index is consistently below the national average. • Tennessee has no state income tax. Chattanooga is “A Top 10 Place to live big, Play Hard, and work (if you must)” - Outside Magazine CHATTANOOGA BUSINESS-FRIENDLY WITH LOW OPERATING COSTS Tennessee and Chattanooga offer an incredibly business-friendly atmosphere at remarkably low costs. The Chattanooga Chamber serves as your one-stop local point of contact for coordinating close collaboration among city, county and state agencies to support you in selecting a site, incentives and fast-tracking your permitting. The City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County partner on local incentives with the State of Tennessee offering additional incentives for infrastructure development, training and related areas. Chattanooga State Community College and the Tennessee Career Centers work in tandem to help you move through the hiring and training process. Once our team helps you start-up and begin production, you’ll enjoy low employment costs, business-friendly taxes, the nation’s smartest smart grid and America’s fastest community-wide internet. Speed to Market: Chattanooga’s fast-track permitting and support allowed Amazon.com to construct a 1 million square-foot fullfillment center and staff it with 1,250 employees in just 8 months. Tennessee is a “Top Ten State For Least Red-Tape, Low Business Taxes” - U.S. Chamber of Commerce “Chattanooga creates an environment where companies of all sizes can thrive and prosper. It is a business-friendly city that combines technological advancement, an educated workforce and a quality of life that makes it an excellent location for Unum.” Richard P. (Rick) McKenney President and CEO, Unum Chattanooga is home to several publicly-traded corporate headquarter operations, including the S&P 500 ranked Unum with 2,800 employees. Our unique combination of big-city amenities and low cost of living makes Chattanooga attractive to relocating executives while maintaining a fair cost of living for back-office employees. Major Corporate Headquarters Company Product/Service Full-Time Employees BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Healthcare Financing 4,437 Unum Insurance 2,800 McKee Foods Corporation Mfr. Cakes & Cookies 2,750 Astec Industries, Inc. Mfr. Asphalt & Construction Equipment 1,318 U.S. Xpress Enterprises, Inc. Transportation Services 1,036 Kenco Group Supply Chain Solutions, 3rd Party Logistics (3PL) 639 EPB Electric Power & Telecommunications 545 Walden Security Contract Security Services 516 Schnellecke Logistics USA, LLC Transportation Services 485 Southern Champion Tray, LP Mfr. Folding Cartons 468 Jake Marshall, LLC Mechanical Contractor 411 Miller Industries Towing Equipment, Inc. Mfr. Towing Equipment 404 Vision Hospitality Group, Inc. Lodging 397 CBL and Associates Properties, Inc. Shopping Center Developer, Owner & Manager 375 Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation Physical Rehabilitation Hospital 360 Mueller Company Mfr. Gate Valves 357 Propex Operating Company, LLC Mfr. Carpet Backing/Technical Textiles 351 “We’re lucky to be right in the heart of downtown Chattanooga, especially in an office with as rich a history as Warehouse Row. And being so close to top recruiting schools makes it easy to hire great people. They’re excited to live and work in such a vibrant community.” Jeff Silver CEO,Coyote Logistics CHATTANOOGA A VARIETY OF BACK-OFFICE SOLUTIONS Chattanooga is home to growing success in the back-office market. Freight brokerage firm Coyote Logistics and financial services company Transcard recently announced the addition of more employees, most of which will be focused on sales and customer service. Chattanooga boasts the low costs of a mid-sized city with the strong ability to leverage an existing workforce that has proven to be effective for numerous leading companies. The depth of the employment pool—with particular expertise in the insurance and logistics industries—has proven to be an asset for new-to-market companies as well as those with recently expanded operations including T-Mobile, HomeServe and Convergys. Company Name Emps Industry BlueCross BlueShield of TN 4,437 Insurance Unum 2,800 Insurance Cigna 2,200 Insurance Convergys 800 Call Center T-Mobile 559 Communications Whirlpool Xperience 550 Call Center HomeServe USA 238 Home Repair Services Coyote Logistics 235 Freight Brokerage TransCard, LLC 69 Financial Services Haverty’s Credit 65 Financial Services Total Employment 10,553 CHATTANOOGA HOME OF TOMORROW’S INTERNET With a state-of-the-art telecommunications infrastructure, Chattanooga houses America’s fastest internet. Fiber-optic lines deliver 1 gigabit speeds and connect smart meters on every home and business within a 600-square-mile area. The Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) provides coverage that allows you to work from headquarters or distribute your workforce without missing a beat. You also have the opportunity to develop and test next generation apps in the only real-world environment in America that uses tomorrow’s internet. We provide a wide variety of intelligent network services to improve business productivity and efficiency. Chattanooga’s communication advantages include digital housing centers that accommodate 1,500 smart switches. The computerized switching technology confines outages by re-routing power — often within less than a second — and can be used to provide a second electrical access point to your facility for a fraction of the cost of a dual feed. In addition, SONET transport technology, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) are available. Both traditional and competitive local exchange carriers provide service, and Chattanooga has multiple points of presence for all major long distance and local carriers. These features allow Chattanooga to provide the fastest and most comprehensive Fiber-to-the-Home and Smart Grid in the United States. STARTING UP CHATTANOOGA’S ENTREPRENEURIAL ENGINE Chattanooga’s entrepreneurial ecosystem thrives with startup investment funds and local accelerators. From seed fund Blank Slate Ventures to venture capital funds Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, SwiftWing Ventures, Jump Fund and the venture incubator Lamp Post Group, Chattanooga offers a strong base of financial support for local entrepreneurs. The Chamber-managed INCubator, the largest business incubator in Tennessee, has graduated more than 500 small businesses into the community upon their completion of a three-year development program. The Company Lab, yet another resource for entrepreneurs in Chattanooga, offers CO.LAB Accelerator, a mentorshipdriven startup accelerator, as well as GigTank, a summer accelerator supporting entrepreneurship which takes advantage of Chattanooga’s gig internet. The Chamber-managed INCubator, the largest business incubator in Tennessee, has graduated more than 500 small businesses. “Feetz chose Chattanooga as our location because of the grass roots community that is developed in incubator networks like the BDC. We are just a step away from other startups in diverse industries of fashion, engineering, and software to kick around ideas with.” Lucy Beard Founder & CEO, Feetz www.ChattanoogaCanDo.com 811 Broad Street Chattanooga TN, 37402 - 2626 1.423.756.2121 • [email protected] www.chattanoogacando.com