Move-In Ready Business Demand On The Rise

Businesses remain interested in development and growth, but since COVID their wants have changed.

Acreage and building sites are out. Existing buildings with room to expand are in. That is according to Cookeville Economic Developer Coordinator Melinda Keifer.

“The good news is we have no vacant existing manufacturing places,” Keifer said. “The bad news is we don’t have any vacant buildings, right?”

Much of the region’s recruiting trips and meetings have been put on hold by COVID. Keifer said the good news is local businesses continue to look to expand.

“What we have not seen a slow down in is existing businesses currently located here, not just in Cookeville and Putnam County but in the Upper Cumberland, moving on expansion plans which are hugely exciting,” Keifer said. “I mean they already have created great jobs, and for them to be able to add more is always very very exciting.”