Do you work in Smith County, or do you commute out of Smith County to earn a living?
If you leave the county to work, you’re not alone. In fact, you are part of the majority because over 60% of the county’s labor force leaves the county to earn a living.
But what if there were more opportunities to make a good living within the county border for you, your children, or grandchildren?
Creating opportunity for its residents is why Smith County wisely invested in land near the interstate. It was acquired at a great price, and since the investment, real estate prices in the region have more than quadrupled. This investment gave the County the ability to control which job providers it wants to attract.
New facilities landing on “the most marketable piece of property in the Upper Cumberland,” can also help stabilize property taxes for residents, motivate the TN Department of Transportation to rebuild the 1-40 Exit 258 interchange, and make the community eligible for grants that fund needed projects which support our first responders.
Our agency, along with local stakeholders, works hard to retain, expand, and recruit good paying jobs to the community, with the mission to enhance quality of life. In order to attract new careers to Smith County, the companies that provide them require a skilled talent pool to hire from. Right now, there are opportunities for Smith County to attract investment from the advanced manufacturing sector.
To qualify for a good paying career in the advanced manufacturing sector, an employee is expected to have exceptional work ethic, critical thinking skills, communication skills, the ability to program machines, and digital fluency. Finishing high school, acquiring a certificate of completion from TN College of Applied Technology and/or degree from two-year or four-year institutions also make applicants more competitive for jobs in the industry.
This year, in a multi-faceted strategic approach, a community of stakeholders continued their work to increase the skill level and size of Smith County’s talent pool. Their motivation is to accumulate resources that further prepare the workforce to exceed expectations of resident and prospective job providers. Thus, encouraging opportunities for everyone to earn more money, locally.
So, while Covid-19 gripped the nation in 2020, and confined a lot of communities to lockdown paralysis, Smith County used the crisis as an opportunity to make significant strides in improving its talent pool. They analyzed their assets, created a strategy, produced a program of work to continually improve its labor force, and won grants that helped purchase new equipment. These are the results:
The TN Central Economic Authority sponsored the TN College of Applied Technology’s (TCAT) million-dollar Governors Initiative Vocational Education (GIVE) grant application which was awarded to our region this year. Working with the Career and Technical Education Department of Smith County and Industry, TCAT brought new equipment to the high schools worth over $200,000. The training equipment is designed to provide experience with sophisticated equipment used in manufacturing facilities. Additionally, this project provides a Work Based Learning Program which will expose students to what is being made in Smith County and industry leaders who make business happen.
In Spring, the anti-drug coalition of Smith County started a Work Force Task Force which now meets regularly at the Chamber of Commerce. This task force is comprised of nearly twenty individuals, from various organizations. They are utilizing all available resources throughout the region to identify, address, and solve a broad spectrum of challenges within the talent pool.
The Chamber of Commerce applied for, and won, a technology grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority. They used it to fund the development of two Zoom Rooms in their building (939 Upper Ferry Rd A, Carthage, TN 37030). These rooms now host remote classes offered from Vol State Community College. The 2021 offerings are general education classes which can credit multiple career paths. New students can apply for free at www.volstate.edu/apply or calling 615-230-3688.
TVA also partnered with a world-renowned manufacturing site selection firm, the Site Development Group, to design a Rural Certification program. An invitation to the program provides an outline of expectations that Industry has when it looks for places to establish their new facilities. It recognizes communities who are ready for that type of new investment and created an extensive application process that analyzed the community’s assets, workforce, planned improvements, and ability to solve challenges. Smith County was awarded this certification; thus, increasing its attractiveness to businesses looking for new places to establish their facilities.
In lieu of the pandemic, the Smith County school system moved its annual Career Fair from the Ag Center to a Virtual platform. It is worth applauding the school system for pivoting to an alternative concept because it will maintain a significant learning opportunity for the middle and high school children in the community. They could have done what many other communities did, and cancel it altogether.
All in all, the Virtual Career Fair, GIVE grant, Vol State Zoom Rooms, Work Force Task Force, and community certification award, will make significant contributions to the expansion, education, and eligibility of our workforce talent pool. These programs will a long way towards the goals of attracting new high-quality jobs with strong living wages, providing shorter commutes, stabilizing taxes, and helping provide career pathways for generations to come.
Dan Tidcomb serves the region as an Economic Developer at the TN Central Economic Authority. He works to retain and expand opportunities for local manufacturers, as well as, recruit new ones. You may reach him by email at DTidcomb@TennesseeCentral.org.
