CommunityLink

Oak Ridge, TN

Business & Industry

There’s something going on in Oak Ridge — an
economic surge brought on at least in part by innovative
leadership at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that is helping to lead a physical renaissance.

The DOE’s impact can be seen in the $300 million modernization of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the many new research facilities being built today, including the Spallation Neutron Source, the world’s largest science project.

Combined with ambitious plans for the modernization of the Y-12 National Security Complex, more than $2 billion of new investment is transforming the Oak Ridge landscape.

Meanwhile, leaders in Oak Ridge and the East Tennessee region have pooled valuable resources to benefit business in a new endeavor. The effort is identified as the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley, and the new brand name helps tell the story of the area’s strengths, its cultural past and its promising future.

“Our region’s unique differentiators can be summed up in three points,” says Alex Fischer, director of technology transfer and economic development for UT-Battelle/Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “The first is location, with 75 percent of the U.S. population within a day’s drive. The second is quality of life, represented by our mountains, lakes, urban areas and small towns.

“A third asset, however, sets us apart from the world,” Fischer asserts. “Oak Ridge is home to unique technology resources, anchored by the Department of Energy’s largest multi-disciplinary laboratory, the nation’s largest science project, the world’s fastest supercomputer and the Y-12 National Security Complex. Any other region would die for such assets. They truly set us apart in today’s competition for tomorrow’s jobs.”

Sophisticated technology and high bandwidth capacity is in place, such as Internet2 connections between Oak Ridge and the University of Tennessee. In addition, the Tennessee Valley Authority offers some of the lowest power rates in the country and is known as one of the most dependable suppliers of power in the country.

The Oak Ridge/Knoxville area is home to more than 1,000 high-tech companies, 45,000 high-tech professionals, 3,500 Ph.D.s and more than 9,000 college students majoring in technology, science, math or engineering. Their efforts have put this area at the forefront in nuclear physics, environmental technology, advanced
materials, information technology, biomedical technology, transportation research, and measurement and controls.

Oak Ridge Tool and Engineering Inc. was recently a beneficiary of the synergy that has taken hold. The company is an energy, aerospace and defense contractor that will employ approximately 100 after its current expansion. The company received a seven-year tax abatement and incentive package, and the community returned valuable real estate back to the tax rolls. As a result, Oak Ridge Tool was able to consolidate operations into a 100,000-square-foot building in Commerce Park.

In addition to keeping existing businesses operating successfully in Oak Ridge and making sure businesses around the world know what Oak Ridge has to offer, the spirit of entrepreneurship in the city is exciting and is growing stronger.

At Technology 2020, more than 1,300 jobs have been created from companies that have tapped its incubator program, access to capital or information technology services. Tech 2020 is spearheading a nanotechnology initiative to leverage the region’s tremendous research resources and institutions to establish the region as one of the premier nanotechnology research and commercialization hot spots in America.

In addition to providing incubator space and support, Tech 2020 provides access to capital and counsels new companies on efficient operations and profitability while using the latest advances in information technology.

Real Estate Resources

• Horizon Center is a 954-acre upscale business park with 430 acres of land for large industry, research and development, and corporate offices located just five miles from Interstates
40 and 75. Business facilities are surrounded by a wooded park, creekside walking trails and original sculptures in a campus-like setting.
• Heritage Center features a 5,000-acre developed site with more than 3 million square feet of industrial, manufacturing, office and laboratory space, in addition to a well-maintained railroad. Previously used for U.S. Department of Energy research, development and manufacturing, the buildings and equipment now serve new purposes for a wide variety of private industry.
• Bethel Valley Industrial Park is a 118-acre light industrial park located only three miles from the center of Oak Ridge. One lot of about 5 acres remains in this popular park. With excellent visibility, the site is only five miles from ORNL and three miles from Pellissippi Parkway.
• Clinch River Industrial Site is
a 1,200-acre site located on a peninsula along a navigable waterway. Originally intended for a DOE
power plant that was never built, this site has already been intensively surveyed, and a perimeter road
connects the site with state roads
to the north and west.
• Commerce Park is a 300-acre,
master-planned development
for light industry, research laboratories and corporate offices. Prime office locations overlook the
heavily landscaped and fully
illuminated park’s 4-acre lake with views of the Cumberland Mountains.
• Oak Ridge Summit is a new 73-acre development with beautiful vistas slated for data storage capacity, R&D and light manufacturing on the southern boundary of the City of Oak Ridge.

In addition, numerous existing buildings are available for manufacturing, warehousing or office use.

Business Location Services

Oak Ridge offers free and confidential business location
information and assistance:

• Site development services include building and site
spec sheets, environmental information, and zoning
status and process.
• Human resource services include wage surveys,
demographic surveys and training.
• Manufacturing/production services include support
services assessment, expendability/flexibility assessment and energy supply analyses.
• Marketing services include center-of-market analyses, regional demographics and competitive analyses.
• Negotiation services include incentives, site
acquisition and purchase options.
• Other services include information on livability,
educational resources and cultural amenities.

Businesses can access these services and a network of business advocates in the Oak Ridge area with one easy call to Kim Denton at 865-483-1321 or by e-mailing denton@orcc.org. For more information, visit www.orcc.org or www.knoxvilleoakridge.org.