Reporting on its five-year Chattanooga Climbs economic goals, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce said it reached and surpassed its five-year goal of $1 billion in capital investment in three years.
At the Chattanooga Chamber’s annual meeting, Jim Haley, immediate past chair of the Chattanooga Chamber board of directors, said Steam Logistics’ investment downtown and the West Star Aviation expansion at the Chattanooga Airport led the way in capital investment over the 12-month fiscal year that ended June 30.
In addition, Avondale’s Construction Career Center broke ground.
Over the same period, $38 million in capital investment helped to create 685 jobs.
The three-year cumulative results of the five-year Chattanooga Climbs plan include reaching and surpassing the goal of $1 billion in capital investment. A total of $1,097,079,071 has been invested.
In addition, the goal of a $55,000 average wage by 2024 is 91% complete; the average wage in Chattanooga is currently $50,034.
Moreover, the goal of creating 5,000 jobs is 63% complete (employers have created 3,147 jobs) and the goal of producing $500 million in new payroll is 63% complete (employers have produced $314,507,385 in new payroll).
Chattanooga Chamber President and CEO Christy Gillenwater honored 11 area Chattanooga Chamber councils and the International Business Council for dedicating more than 3,000 volunteer hours.
The Chattanooga Chamber Ooltewah Collegedale Council received the coveted Chamber Council of the Year Award. Their work included supporting small businesses with networking events, partnering with the local library and implementing training programs focused on teaching soft skills.
The Chattanooga Chamber named Marcia Caldwell, office manager and marketing director at Embark Project Services Chattanooga Chamber, its Ambassador of the Year. Haley recognized her integrity and professionalism when announcing the honor.
Gillenwater highlighted the past year’s public relations and talent recruitment outreach, which resulted in 1.2 billion media impressions promoting Chattanooga, ChattanoogaCalling.com attracting over 38,000 users and the launch of a new ChattanoogaTrend.com website.
The Chattanooga Chamber’s INCubator, a business hatchery housed in the Hamilton County Business Development Center, reached 100% manufacturing capacity and 80% occupancy overall.
INCubator clients created more than 250 jobs in diverse industry sectors. Recent program graduates include Branch Technology and Hoff & Pepper, which both expanded over the past year.
The annual report also highlights the Chamber’s public policy initiatives of the past fiscal year, which include monitoring more than 250 pieces of legislation while supporting Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal for overhauling K-12 funding, tax increment financing legislation for South Broad Revitalization and funding for a new health science building at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga during the 2022 Tennessee General Assembly.
The Chattanooga Chamber’s policy agenda also included support for federal investments in workforce and skills training, early childhood education funding, workplace vaccine policies and expanding Amtrak.
Continuing its track record of talent development and retention, 45 participants graduated from Leadership Chattanooga and 24 participants graduated from Protégé Chattanooga, both Chattanooga Chamber professional development programs.
Source: Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce