The Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 65th anniversary this week while focusing on future economic growth.
President and CEO Ethan Hadley said the organization has spent six and a half decades serving as a growing entity for the community. Hadley said the chamber functions as a unifying voice for local businesses to work toward common goals and achieve results that benefit the entire county.
“The history of Cumberland County, the Homestead Act and the growth of here from, from earlier in the last century up through now, It’s just been dramatic and continues to unfold,” Hadley said.
Hadley said the chamber currently serves as the designated economic development agency for the community with a focus on bringing in complimentary new businesses. Hadley said the organization is also charged with tourism promotion, noting that Cumberland County currently ranks 15th out of 95 Tennessee counties for direct tourist expenditure.
Hadley said the chamber will continue to lean on Crossville’s prominence as the state’s golf capital to keep attracting tourist dollars and attention to the region.
“Our priorities are to our businesses, to help them grow and succeed,” Hadley said. “We are also the designated economic development agency for the community, so we’re trying to bring in complimentary new businesses and create job opportunities for people that don’t exist currently.”
Hadley said a new $5.6 million spec building is scheduled for completion within a matter of weeks to provide inventory for new or expanding businesses. Hadley said the economic development team includes partners such as Cumberland County Mayor Alan Foster, Crossville Mayor R.J. Crawford, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and the state.
Hadley said the community maintains unique economic drivers, including nine championship golf courses and two tile plants that make the area the tile manufacturing capital of Tennessee. Hadley said the chamber intends to further embrace the golf industry by collaborating with Fairfield Glade, Lake Tansi, and Bear Trace to bring in more statewide tournaments.
“We’re trying to build strength upon strength, so really it’s just working together with partners at those courses to bring in more events like this that bring in golfers from around the state and just make sure people know we’re here.”
Hadley said the vision for the next 65 years involves taking a long-term view of infrastructure to ensure the county is prepared for incoming growth. Hadley said the goal is to leave the next generation with a community that is better than the one inherited by current leaders.
“We will grow in a smart way and that we will still continue to be a naturally beautiful landscape, that is keeping pace with the times and growing in a way that will cause us to continue to be attractive to people who want to move somewhere that is beautiful, that is inviting, and also to get folks to visit here for the same reason,” Hadley said.
