News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Local economic experts see continued growth in the Upper Cumberland’s economic outlook for 2025.
Highlands Economic Partnership Vice President Adam Poe said he has had discussions with multiple different organizations about what 2025 has in store. Poe said he is encouraged by the projected economic projections.
“Everybody has an exciting outlook on what the growth of our region is going to be over this next year,” Poe said. “I think that this is going to be an amazing year for growth and I think that it is going to be one ten years down the road that we look back on and say 2025 was a great year for our community.”
Poe said the big reason for the continuation of growth in the Upper Cumberland is due to local leaders doubling down on education and career exploration. Poe said the goal amongst local leaders is to create an ecosystem of businesses that can thrive off of each other in order to sustain operations.
“The great part about where we are at right now is we can really be specific on what types of businesses, what level of wages, and how many jobs do we want to bring to this area,” Poe said.
Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce President Ethan Hadley said industries like Whisper Aero and the Flat Rock Motorsports Park have led to more businesses and industries eyeing a move to Cumberland County.
“They have connectivities to other companies that are related to them that are constantly looking for places to grow,” Hadley said. “So we hope that our existing industry base and our new industry base will continue to draw attention.”
Hadley said with more growth being projected Cumberland County is already preparing to take on the growth by constructing a 100,000-square-foot Industrial speculative building on exit 317 off of I-40 this Spring.
“It’s adjacent to the interstate, has good visibility, and it would be a perfect place for a new industry or one of our industries to use for expanding economic opportunity here,” Hadley said.
Poe said with more people moving to the area we can expect more housing to be built to meet the increase in housing demand.
“Just the way our region is positioned in the state we’ve got to have more houses,” Poe said. “I think that there is a real interest from several developers to continue to do that.
Poe said the Upper Cumberland still has a lot of untapped economic potential and is becoming more attractive to places like Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.
