Megasite gets new name

Posted: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 7:00 pm

MEMPHIS (AP) — The name of a large industrial site in West Tennessee has been changed from the West Tennessee Megasite to the Memphis Regional Megasite.
The 1,720-acre location in Haywood County is hooking onto a well-known name.
Haywood County Mayor Franklin Smith said in a statement obtained by The Commercial Appeal (http://bit.ly/HMItl2) that Memphis is a globally recognized brand that will help more efficiently market the assets of the site.
The site is already certified through Tennessee Valley Authority’s Megasite Certification Program as a potential spot for a big manufacturer or other large industrial development.
The site has truck access to Interstate 40 and rail access to CSX Transportation, with connections to four other rail systems. It lies halfway between Memphis and Jackson.
The larger city just to the west is booming.
Last year, Memphis and Shelby County attracted more than $1 billion in investment from private companies, according to a January statement by the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.
“It is an affirmation they’ve done this and I think it’s smart to do it,” said Mark Herbison of the name change. Herbison is the economic senior vice president of the Greater Memphis Chamber. He also a member of the authority overseeing the megasite.
Herbison said the advantages flow both ways, noting that if a large manufacturer, such as an auto assembly plant, built there “the vast majority of employees would come from Memphis and Shelby County.”
Infrastructure is still being developed for the megasite.
Of the seven megasites designated by TVA, five have been sold. In Tennessee, Volkswagen is building cars at Enterprise South, the former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant site in Chattanooga, and Hemlock Semiconductor has constructed a plant at Clarksville. Besides the Memphis Regional Megasite, the I-24 Megasite at Hopkinsville, Ky., is also available.
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Information from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com

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