McKenzie Industrial Board Highlights Successful Year

McKENZIE (July 10) — McKenzie Industrial Development Corporation has had a successful year with many projects and industrial prospects, many looking for available land, buildings, or warehouse space.

Monica Heath, the executive director, said  “Growth is inevitable.” All West Tennessee communities are anticipating major industrial and residential growth with the BlueOval Ford and SK Battery project coming online in 2015. Thousands of jobs are headed to West Tennessee and Western Kentucky.

Ford’s largest North American plant is being built just over one hour from McKenzie. Another battery plant is in Kentucky. McKenzie sits between the two is in an ideal spot to land supplier industries to the automotive industry. McKenzie already has suppliers to the automotive and railroad industry.

Joe Barker, director of the Southwest Economic District, spoke in McKenzie and noted, “McKenzie is in the sweet spot.”

McKenzie has one of the very few available industrial buildings in the area. Known as the Dana building, adjacent to the terminal building at the Carroll County Airport, it is ideally suited for an industrial prospect.

McKenzie Industrial Board recently purchased the building and is repairing the roof, windows, air conditioners, and parking lot. It is almost ready for occupancy. It can be purchased or leased. Several industries, including several McKenzie industries, have expressed an interest in leasing the building. All of them wanted it for warehousing, with few employees.

Heath said the industrial board members want a substantial number of employees in that building. As far as buildings go, there are limited resources, industrial sites, and no buildings.

According to the Charter of Incorporation by the State of Tennessee, the Industrial Development Board of the City of McKenzie was established on March 29, 1962.

The Industrial Development Board is a separate entity from the City of McKenzie. It is a 501c6 Non-Profit Corporation with the State of Tennessee. According to state law, the industrial development board has the authority to finance, acquire, own, lease, or sell properties to promote and encourage economic development. (Tennessee Code Annotated Title 7, Chapter 53).

The IDB does not receive funding from the City of McKenzie, County of Carroll, or Carroll County Electric, nor is it taxpayer-funded. It is self-funded and operates from rent receipts, farm crops sales, and land sales. It also manages the Tennessee Department of Human Services rental property in the former E.W. James Supermarket building. The current E.W. James is across the street.

The Corporation has a board of directors in which all corporation’s powers shall be vested and which shall consist of (9) nine members serving six-year terms-no term limits; three are Executive Board Members including the chairman, vice chairman, and secretary/treasurer, and one executive director that is hired by the Board of Directors and reports directly to them.  The Director conducts IDB’s business with all it entitles.  The Board has final authority over all transactions, pricing, sales, lease agreements, etc., and the Executive Committee signs off on all transactions, legal, banking, etc.

Today, economic development looks different from 20, 10, or even five years ago.  It’s more than just industrial recruitment, it’s retention and growth of current industries, retail development, tourism, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and anything that promotes growth and economic vitality.

With over 5,000 people leaving the county each day to go to work, The Industrial Development Board has worked tirelessly to find ways to keep local talent from leaving the community. The IDB is working to keep McKenzie moving in the right direction and ready for the coming growth.  These are just some of the projects we have been part of or are in process.

Carroll County Airport — The IDB had purchase options on all the farmland that is now the Carroll County Airport — Mayor Joe Morris, Harold Hoot Gibson, and Jerome Crawford and Carroll County Executive Wesley Beal, Jr. went to Nashville and presented the plan for an airport in Carroll County.   They convinced the Department of Transportation of the need. It opened in the late 1980s. McKenzie IDB went to great expense to develop that site.

Park Theatre — The IDB owned Park Theater and gifted it to the City of McKenzie to renovate and return it to a cinema.

Depot — The IDB purchased the Depot and financed it for the City of McKenzie for $100,000.00 at no interest.  The IDB moved its office there, renovated the building, spent $125,000, and wrote it off as rent. The IDB also applied for a tourism grant and received $75,000 to finish the remaining half of the building, landscaping, and all concrete work. The IDB paid the 5% match to complete this work.

VP Fuels — McKenzie IDB funded and supplied all the environmental testing needed to proceed with this project. Estimated $50,000.00 total expense by the IDB. It opens this year.

VP Racing Fuels is investing $14,000,000.00 in McKenzie, Carroll County, with 150 Jobs. $790,000.00 was a commitment from the State of Tenn.

Pottery Direct — McKenzie IDB discounted the land and supplied office space for six months until Pottery Direct started up. Pottery Direct invested $8,000,000 in McKenzie, Carroll County with 40 Jobs. $400,000.00 was committed by the State of Tenn.

Two  Tenn. Department of Transportation Industrial Investments are coming soon. Those are SIA access with a cul-de-sac into the South Industrial Park, Pottery Direct Project at a cost of $1.5 million; The second project is State Route 22/Vernon Thomas Road — Widen for acceleration lane/right turn and offset left turn lanes. That is available because the Industrial Park-South landed VP Racing, Pottery Direct, and has very high truck traffic from Black and Decker — all in the Industrial Park South. Project cost is $2.4 million.

Emergency Medical Services Building (Ambulance station) — The IDB took possession of the ambulance building and helipad in  2022. The IDB renovated the ambulance substation at a cost of $150,000.00 to get the building to meet current safety and building codes and to ensure an ambulance base remained in McKenzie, especially after the hospital closed. The IDB has a five-year lease with Priority Ambulance.

The RailYard Workspace in downtown McKenzie. IDB purchased the former Overflow Church site in 2019 and converted it to a co-working space at a cost of $250,000. It is now a co-working, meeting, and private office space and home to the new McKenzie Chamber of Commerce and McKenzie Industrial Board. Office space is available for a day, week, month, or long term.

Tenn. Certified Industrial Site — McKenzie Airport Industrial Park was the first Tenn. Certified Site in Carroll County. That helps with grants and the development of infrastructure. The IDB received a Site Development Grant of $417,000.00 with 5% match $22,000.00 from the IDB to develop a Pad Ready Site on 23 acres at the Airport Industrial Park Site for a 315,000 square foot pad. That helps in a ‘quick build’ for prospective industry.

Industrial Park Signage for McKenzie Airport Industrial Park — New Park Signs for Rochelle and Airport Road with electricity. New signs are coming. The layout and design is ready for approval by the IDB Board. Installation should be in the fall of 2023.

The McKenzie IDB formed the McKenzie Chamber of Commerce and Industry in July 2020 with 100 members with a mission is to promote business, enhance McKenzie’s economic and community development, and serve as a catalyst for improving all citizens’ overall quality of life in McKenzie, Carroll County, and West Tennessee.

The IDB pays for the executive director so the Chamber can operate with fewer expenses and put all the money back into the community.

Available 67 Acres Across from the high school is available for development. Of the 67 acres, twenty acres of road frontage is zoned as Commercial Highway Business. The IDB is seeking a commercial contractor/investor and for retail development and possibly a hotel. Forty (40) acres are zoned R2 residential. The Subdivision Master Design is complete and the IDB is seeking a contractor for the project.

DANA Building is almost ready for occupancy. It was purchased by the IDB in 2023 for $1.2 million; in addition to the purchase price, the IDB repaired the roof, parking lot, office air conditioning and painted.

The building will soon be for lease for Industrial Use Only. It is marketed through the State of Tenn. and TVA Economic Development.

The Industrial Development Board’s first obligation is to retain and grow our existing industries. We are very fortunate to have the industries that we have: Haven Steel, Allegion/Republic Door, Profile Metal Forming, Edsco, J&J Auto Racing, Shomaker Lumber, Cachengo, McKenzie Valve, Pottery Direct, VP Racing Fuel, 501K, Stanley Black & Decker and Parts Depot. These manufacturers have invested millions in their facilities and continue to this day. The IDB is here to help facilitate, whether it be through loans, leases, grants, incentives, workforce development, etc.

Carroll County is experiencing one of the lowest unemployment rates in 50 years. The IDB works with neighboring counties’ IDB, Tourism, and Workforce Development Boards to stay relevant. In October, the Executive Director traveled to South Carolina to see how the BMW assembly plant affected that city, how to avoid some mistakes, and how to recruit suppliers.