BusinessTN

Around the state, leaders in the largest of cities and smallest of towns are holding their collective breaths, hoping to get through the current economic downturn as unscathed as possible. Maury County, Tennessee and its communities--Columbia, Spring Hill, Mt. Pleasant, Santa Fe, Water Valley and others--are no different. But while there has been a slowdown in some sectors, such as construction and new business, there is positive news to report, too.

"We have new leadership in the county," says Frank Tamberrino, president of the Maury Alliance, an organization that serves as the Chamber of Commerce and economic development arm of the county. "We have three new city managers, all coming in with fresh perspectives, so they're more flexible and open to new ideas." Paul Boyer became city manager of Columbia, the county seat of Maury, in the fall of 2007, and Richard Goode took over the city manager position in Mt. Pleasant in midsummer.

According to Plan

One of the big issues facing Maury County--and many other counties in the state--is coming up with a unified development plan that incorporates a vision for the future. "We're using this opportunity to make progress on a plan that evolved last year," Tamberrino says. In 2007, the county allotted $100,000 to hire a consultant to assist in the comprehensive planning process. All three cities are contributing another $50,000 to fund the planning effort.

In 1998, a new law was enacted in Tennessee that required each county to establish a coordinating committee to develop its county growth. The new law incorporates many "smart growth" themes, including urban growth boundaries and planned growth, but did not require city and county plans to work in unison.

"We're pulling together," Tamberrino says, "and folks are watching because this is one of the first times in Tennessee that an entire community is going through the same exercise at the same time."
The idea started in the private sector with a small group of citizens advocating the need for a vision for the community. Out of those discussions grew the idea of a comprehensive plan. The group went to the county and offered to help if the county would put up the money to hire a consultant. "Everyone saw the benefit of working together," Tamberrino says. A steering committee began working on the idea as a joint public and private effort, and in the spring of 2008, the committee hired MACTEC, an engineering, environmental and remedial construction services company out of Atlanta.
There are several stages to the plan, including information gathering--with community input--to gauge what are considered the desirable traits of a community. Eight workshops were held through mid-December 2008 for people to come and share their ideas. When the meetings are complete and the assessment is finished, there will be a plan for the community's future development that will include land use and infrastructure components.

"We've been grappling with development patterns dictated by short-term opportunity, not long-range planning. We're trying to look ahead to what the county will look and feel like in the future," Tamberrino says. "When a map is put on the wall, people can see the bigger picture, not just what's in their own backyard--they can see the logic in the plan." The actual plan will be unveiled in the spring and, hopefully, adopted by the government entities by midyear.

Bearing the Industry Standard

Last year at this time, General Motors--the largest area employer--had closed its Saturn plant in Spring Hill for retooling, laying off close to 2,400 employees. There was a significant capital investment of $690 million that involved a complete overhaul of the plant, new machinery and new paint booth systems, and the ventilation necessary to manufacture a new crossover vehicle.
In September 2008, General Motors began producing cars again, hiring 3,400 employees (a figure that included the rehiring of many of those laid off). The facility is producing the Chevy Traverse, a crossover vehicle, and a hybrid is in the planning stages. Suppliers were brought back, including Premier, which employs 300 and supplies headliners and wheel assemblies; Penske Logistics, with 300 employees involved in the sequencing of goods and materials; and Johnson Controls, with approximately 400 employees.

Other new companies in the area include Jade Industries, which manufactures unique trade show displays, and Artisan Industries. "The best way to describe Artisan is to say that if you can describe it, they can draw it, put it on a computer and build it," Tamberrino says. Earlier in 2008, Froggy's Fog moved into the county, too, to sell fog. "Apparently, a lot of people need fog," says Tamberrino, "so they created an all-natural fog that comes in six different densities and characteristics." The company sells its fog to businesses all over the world, including skating rinks, entertainment venues, concerts, and fire departments, where the fog is used for training purposes.

Other new arrivals in the county are holding their own, including ink cartridge recycler Printing Technology, which is planning an expansion; Sekisui Plastics, a Japanese company that produces a hybrid, moldable resin for the automotive, appliance and electronic industries; and Integrity Nutraceuticals International.

In the spring of 2008, Bakery Technology Enterprises moved to Columbia to manufacture commercial baking equipment. Experimental Design & Analysis Solutions moved from Brentwood to Spring Hill to test blades that go into aircraft engines.

Harley-Davidson is building a prototype facility, located near Interstate 65. There is also talk of another hotel going up by I-65, and city officials are considering traffic and visual improvements to James Campbell Boulevard in Columbia. Over 50% of Columbia and Maury County's sales tax dollars are generated on that one commercial strip, which is near Maury Regional Hospital, Columbia State Community College and the mall.

A Touristic Tour de Force

Another important source of revenue in the county is tourism. Despite the current economic woes, tourism in Maury County had another good year, according to Brenda Pierce, executive director of the Maury County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). Economic impact numbers for 2007, released at the Governor's Conference, show a 6.2% increase over 2006 totals in tourism in Maury County. "That translates to more than $89 million in economic impact for the county," Pierce says. In addition, Maury County moved up one slot in the county rankings, from nineteenth in 2006 to eighteenth for 2007, a great place to be for a county that lacks a city equal in size to Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville or Chattanooga.

Maury County (and Columbia, in particular) has been called the "Antebellum Homes Capital of Tennessee." Five public sites are open for group tours--the James K. Polk Home, Rippavilla Plantation, Elm Springs Plantation, the Athenaeum Rectory and Ferguson Hall. (Ferguson Hall is open by appointment only.) Four of those sites--the Polk Home, Rippavilla, Elm Springs and the Athenaeum--are open to individual visitors as well, and Elm Springs is open for research purposes. In Mt. Pleasant, visitors can see two other Polk plantations--Rattle and Snap, and Hamilton Place.

In recent years, agritourism--which includes wineries and farm-related tours--has grown in Maury County, along with eco-tourism, in the form of "blue ways" or canoe trails, and other water-oriented parks. The Tennessee Museum of Early Farm Life opened this past year behind Rippavilla Plantation. The museum allows visitors to experience early farm life through exhibits that include antique farm equipment, hand tools, wagons and household items. The Tennessee Museum of Early Farm Life is a trip down memory lane for tour groups catering to senior citizens.

The James K. Polk Home purchased an old, historic church on High Street in Columbia, a side street beside the home, and it will be restored to its original state and look. The new space will also allow curators to display more of the Polk collection, instead of rotating things in and out of the house due to space constraints. It will be called the Polk Presidential Hall and will open in the spring of 2009.

The CVB's Pierce is proud of all that Maury County has to offer to group tours. "We create an itinerary for each group," she says. For instance, a recent addition to some group tours is S&G Cycle Shop, a custom cycle shop seen on Tennessee Crossroads and Spike TV. The shop features vintage motorcycles and other interesting paraphernalia on its shelves--including the ashes of three cremated bikers.

"We had an Arkansas tour company scouting locations for a 'mystery trip' they do each year that sells out two coaches--approximately 100 people," Pierce recalls. "They came to see what we could do for their tour." The Arkansas folks wanted more than old houses, and when Pierce noticed the Harley T-shirt on one of their representatives, she thought of S&G, which she'd seen on an episode of Tennessee Crossroads. "I told him about it," she recalls. "They loved it, so we added it to our tours in early 2008."

Together with the Downtown Business and Professional Association, the CVB partners each year to present a couple of high-profile festivals to attract visitors to the county. The Southern Fried Festival is always the last weekend in September. (It will take place this year on September 25-26, 2009.) "We had our thirteenth fall festival year in 2008--it was reborn as the Southern Fried Festival in 2004," Pierce says. "We see over 10,000 visitors in a two-day period."

With the spring comes Mule Day (which will take place April 2-5, 2009) with its typical homespun entertainment. Mule Day attracts approximately 200,000 visitors a year to its various events, including the Mule Day Parade.

Montana in Tennessee

With its rural beauty and small-town atmosphere, Maury County has attracted its fair share of filmmakers over the years. In the summer of 2008, a part of Disney's new Hannah Montana movie was filmed in Columbia. Miley Cyrus' character goes home in the movie to her small town in Tennessee, "Crowley's Corner." Billy Ray Cyrus and Vanessa Williams were also in Columbia for the filming. Many of Columbia's townspeople served as extras.

The crews filmed on the south side of the courthouse and on south Main Street, as well as at the Maury County airport in Mt. Pleasant. "Getting Disney to film in Maury was a boon," Pierce says. "Their location scout told me what he was looking for, and I sent him to several places." Pierce says the folks at Disney were pleased with their filming experience in Columbia.

To the Future through the Past

The sesquicentennial of the Civil War takes place in 2011, and there are statewide plans to bring Civil War "travelers" into Tennessee. Only Virginia experienced more battles than Tennessee during the Civil War. The Civil War Trail that goes through North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and Tennessee provides tourists with marked spots to visit. "Hood's Advance to Nashville" will wind through Giles, Maury, Williamson and Davidson counties. Maury County currently has three Civil War Trail markers--one in Mt. Pleasant, one at St. John's Church and one at the Neely's Mill Shopping Center. These three sites are part of Hood's 1864 campaign and a centerpiece of the Trail as it runs through Tennessee.

History is the bedrock of success for Maury County, but new, fresh ways of utilizing its historical attributes are helping it embrace the future, as well. The county continues to capitalize on its Old South roots as it pursues new business opportunities as the hub of activities in southern Middle Tennessee. There are white-collar and blue-collar opportunities and an array of lifestyles available, making Maury County an attractive place to live and visit.

"We have a vision for our future," Tamberrino says, "and we're in good shape in Maury County."