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The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
Tennessee’s Department of Economic and Community Development has handed out more than $8.8 million in incentives since it last posted FastTrack incentives for February.
Those include $3.4 million to Schneider Electric in Mount Juliet and Smyrna, $2.5 million to Shoals Technologies Group in Portland, $1.6 million to Nokian Tyres in Dayton and $1.3 million to an unnamed project.
The incentives are set to be approved at Monday’s meeting of the Tennessee State Funding Board. The state doled out $2.8 million in FastTrack grants for the first two months of 2023.
FastTrack grants are state grants sent to companies to help offset the costs of expanding or moving into the state with the goal of increasing the number of full-time jobs and the average wages of jobs available in an area.
Economists question the effectiveness of financial incentives to private businesses to expand or come to a new state, but state and local governments continue to expand the incentives.
Schneider Electric plans to spend $85 million total to build a new facility on Maddox Road in Wilson County expand its Rutherford County location.
Schneider says it will add 355 jobs in Mount Juliet and 100 in Smyrna to have 1,900 employees across its facilities in Franklin, Maryville, Memphis, Smyrna and Mount Juliet.
Shoals Technologies plans to spend $80 million over five years to expand its existing manufacturing and distribution operations to a new, larger location in Portland with approximately 550 new jobs.
Nokian Tyres says it will spend $174.1 million to expand operations at its Dayton facility while adding 75 new jobs in Rhea County.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.