TVA Megasite Initiative Lands First Major Industry
November 3, 2005
COLUMBUS, Miss – A Tennessee Valley Authority economic development initiative launched less than two years ago to certify large industrial properties in the southeast United States as megasites suitable for major automotive manufacturing has landed its first industry.
International steel company SeverCorr’s decision to locate an $800 million new plant on a 1,400-acre site in Lowndes County, Mississippi, stems from the industrial property being immediately available and certified as a megasite – one of five large industrial sites certified through the TVA megasites program.
Recognizing a growing need for large industrial properties for automotive assembly plants, TVA began the megasite certification program in March 2004. TVA commissioned an independent consulting firm, McCallum Sweeney Consulting of Greenville, S.C., to develop criteria for megasite certification that includes a minimum of 700 to 1,000 contiguous developable acres, utilities infrastructure, transportation access, completed environmental reviews and secured property ownership.
Four other megasites -- two in Tennessee, one in Kentucky and another site in Mississippi -- are certified and available for the location of an automotive plant.
“By having certified megasites ready for industrial development as well as access to affordable, reliable power, the Tennessee Valley has a huge advantage in recruiting new automotive manufacturing facilities or other related industries,” said TVA Senior Vice President for Economic Development John Bradley. “We are partnering with local distributors of TVA power and our economic development partners in the states we serve to market the other four megasites to automotive manufacturers or other related industries seeking to locate facilities.”
The SeverCorr steel mill in Mississippi, which is being built on property adjacent to the Golden Triangle Airport near Columbus, will produce flat-rolled steel used in the region’s growing automotive industry, which currently relies on steel shipments from northern states or abroad. The plant will eventually employ 450 with an average annual salary of $70,000.
Construction of the plant during the next 17 to 21 months is expected to create 2,000 jobs, and the mill is also expected to generate as many as 1,000 additional jobs as related companies follow SeverCorr to the area.
“The TVA certification program gave the local community a target to shoot for in getting our megasite ready,” said Columbus-Lowndes Development Link CEO Joe Max Higgins. “This process is possibly the single-most innovative idea in the economic development arena in the past five years.”
McCallum Sweeney Consulting, which was selected based on its expertise as a site selection consultant for the automotive industry, evaluated all sites submitted by communities throughout the Tennessee Valley. Recommendations for property improvements and suitable industry-specific uses were given to each community that submitted a site.
“The SeverCorr project, coming just one year after certification of the site, demonstrates the advantage certified megasites have in the recruitment of new automotive manufacturing facilities and other industries,” said MSC Senior Principal Ed McCallum. “Companies, especially in the automotive industry, are under tremendous market pressures to make siting decisions quickly and start up new facilities at a record- break pace.”
Other certified megasites are in Hopkinsville, Ky., just west of Tupelo, Miss., in Chattanooga, Tenn., and near Bells, Tenn. More information on these sites is available at www.TVAed.com.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self-financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve approximately 8.6 million consumers in seven southeastern states.
Media Contact
Amy Tate, Tupelo, (662) 690-3403
TVA News Bureau, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000
