CLEVELAND, Tenn. (Oct. 19, 2009)—The Tennessee Economic Development Council (TEDC) has recognized Gary Farlow, president and CEO of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce, along with James Chavez and Mike Evans, as the 2009 Fred Harris Professionals of the Year for their significant economic development achievements in the state of Tennessee.

The Tennessee Economic Development Council (TEDC) has recognized Gary Farlow, “Due to the overwhelming level of effort of these gentlemen, the TEDC selection committee decided to award three Professional of the Year Awards in 2009,” said Walt Wood, the immediate past president of TEDC and CEO of the Shelbyville-Bedford County Chamber of Commerce. “This is the first time in the 13-year history of the award that TEDC has recognized more than one recipient for the annual award.”

The Professional of the Year Award is granted to a member of TEDC for leadership in the field of economic development by demonstrating a significant and measurable contribution to economic development in their community.

Gary Farlow began his economic development career in 1989 when he joined the staff of the Blount County (Tenn.) Chamber of Commerce as executive vice president for industrial development. After nearly 12 years in that position, he accepted a position as president of the Greene County Partnership in Greeneville, Tenn. In 2002 he joined the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce as vice president for economic development and remained in that position until selected to serve as president and CEO in November 2008.

“2008 was an extremely busy year for economic development activities in Cleveland and Bradley County,” Doug Berry, Chamber vice president of economic development, noted. “Announced in February 2009, the most significant project work by Gary in 2008 was the final negotiation and location of the Wacker Chemie AG $1 billion hyperpure polycrystalline silicon manufacturing facility near the Hiwassee River Industrial Park.”

Wacker purchased approximately 550 acres of privately held land adjacent to Olin Corporation in Charleston, Tenn. The facility will initially employ 500.

“The successful location of Wacker is the culmination of four years of ongoing contact with Wacker,” Berry explained.

Farlow also served as the lead negotiator for the local community in the recruitment and attraction of Starplex Scientific Corp., a Canadian-based manufacturing company that produces pharmaceutical plastics products.

Starplex located a 57,000-square-fool facility on a 12-acre site in the Cleveland/Bradley Industrial Park, with a total investment in the initial phase of $12 million and the creation of 25 full-time positions for the community’s workforce.

“Existing industry retention and expansion was probably the most significant part of the success achieved by the community in 2008,” Berry said. “We essentially competed with another existing Whirlpool Corporation community—Oxford, Mississippi—to retain its existing Whirlpool facilities after company official determined that both production plants should be consolidated.”

Since the plant owned by Whirlpool had been in operation in Cleveland since 1917, the community faced the potential loss of a long-term corporate citizen and 800 existing jobs, according to Berry.

“After extensive negotiations between the company, Bradley County and the City of Cleveland, Whirlpool officials were convinced Cleveland was the best location for the operations,” Berry said. “The incentive package for the project included a funding commitment of $2 million from the local community for the relocation of equipment from Oxford to Cleveland, resulting in the retention of those 800 jobs and the addition of more than 500 new positions in the community.”

Additional plant expansions during 2008 included Precision Inc., which produces pulleys and idlers for conveyors, and Cormetech Environmental Technologies Inc., a producer of catalysts used in pollution control equipment.

“With his extensive background in city planning and a track record of working in harmony with local, state and regional community leadership, Gary has built effective partnerships with numerous resource providers and key agencies so that effective technical teams could be brought to the table to address prospective industry needs,” Berry continued.

Notable career accomplishments include the creation of the joint city-county Industrial Development Board to hold and manage the public industrial park inventory within the community, coordination of Chapter 1101 Economic Development Council functions under the umbrella of the Chamber of Commerce, and advocacy for improved planning efforts within the community so to ensure future growth without destroying the quality of life we currently enjoy.

Additionally, Farlow has expanded the role of community volunteers in business attraction efforts and actively utilized Industrial Development Board members and elected officials at all levels of negotiation with such companies as Wacker. He works diligently with local officials to maintain openness toward incentive packaging to attract industry, resulting in an improved mix of tax abatement standards and infrastructure improvement programs to close the deal.

“As evidenced by the Whirlpool decision, he has also been effective in convincing elected officials to take large steps when working to retain industry in the community,” Berry pointed out.

The biggest challenge faced by Farlow as he negotiated to retain or attract industry, according to Berry, was the ability to manage multiple agencies and governmental jurisdictions throughout multi-year negotiations all the while maintaining project confidentiality, as well as securing firm commitments from all involved for their financial participation in the incentive packaging. 

“Gary has been a significant source of unbiased leadership within Cleveland and Bradley County,” Berry concluded. After serving as vice president of economic development, Chamber leadership appointed him president and CEO in November 2008 after a rigorous national search.”

During his tenure at the Chamber, Farlow realigned department staff positions so that workforce development programming and existing industry efforts could each have a full-time staff assignment instead of one person providing half-time attention to each. “The result has been improved relations with existing industry and better linkages between the school system and future employers.”

The Fred Harris Professional of the Year Award was established in 2004. Recipients must be nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of past TEDC presidents from the field of nominees. TEDC is the statewide organization for both public and private sector professionals involved in economic development. TEDC provides professional development opportunities for its 340 members and works with state officials to maintain an attractive business environment in Tennessee.

-30-