Favorable Conditions:

Tennessee--- is a right-to-work state.

Tennessee--- offers one of the lowest per capita tax burdens and lowest --------------- - - - overall utility in the nation, and no sales tax on industrial --------------- - ----- -equipment.

Tennessee's- manufacturers are allowed an investment tax credit of 1% to --------------- - 10% on the purchase, installation and repairs of qualified -------------- -- - -- - industrial machinery.

Tennessee -- allows a tax credit of $2,000 or $4,500 (in economically ------ -- - -------- -- - --distressed counties)ibusinesses. Minimum of 25 jobs and -------- -- - -- --------$500,000 capital investment.

Tennessee's- distributors are exempt from property taxes on inventories of -------- -- - -- - work-in progress and finished goods.

Tennessee's- distributors and warehouse facilities have no sales tax on purchases of material handling and - -------- -- - -- racking systems associated with required capital investment of $10 million and are allowed - -------- -- - --- -excise tax credit of 1% of purchase price of material handling and racking systems associated - -------- -- - -- with required capital investment of $10 million.

Tennessee -- exempts finished goods inventories over $30 million of manufacturers or warehouse and -------- -- - -- -------distribution facilities from the franchise tax.

Tennessee-- has six foreign trade zones in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville and the Tri-Cities -- -- - -- ---------area.

Tennessee-- is ranked 16th best in the United States for "business tax friendliness" by the Tax Foundation, -- -- - -- ------Washington, DC. (2008)

Tennessee-- is ranked the 13th "friendliest" state for small business by the Small Business & -- -- - -- -------- -- - -- ------- -Entrepreneurship Council, Washington, DC. (2007)

Additional Industry Attractions:

Tennessee's borders are within one day's delivery of 76% of the major United States markets.

Tennessee's City of Memphis has the world's busiest cargo airport and in the U.S. is: first-out of 100 largest -- - -- ------- - cities in percentage of logistics workforce, third in Class I railroad service, fourth largest inland -- - -- ------- - port, the central hub for Federal Express and a major hub for Northwest Airlines.

Tennessee's Oak Ridge/Knoxville area is home to over 1,000 technology-based companies-with more than -- - -- ------- -45,000 technical professionals; over 3,500 PhDs; and more than 10,000 scientists, -- - -- ------- --- - -- ------- professionals and technical workers employed by-the U.S. Department of Energy.

Tennessee is home for over 200 Fortune 500 companies with a presence in Tennessee.

Tennessee Valley Authority operates one of the largest electric power systems in the United States in -- - -- ------- --- - -- terms of generating capacity.

Tennessee's 2006 average hourly wage for production workers is lower than the national average.

Tennessee $14.04 United States $16.80

Tennessee's 2006 union membership for all industries and manufacturing compared to the national -- - -- ------- --- - -- average:

Tennessee 6.0% all-8.2% mfg. United States 12.0% all-11.7% mfg.

Tennessee's FastTrack Job Training Assistance program is available to new and expanding industry.

Tennessee's 2007 population estimate of 6,156,719 represents a 8.2% increase over the 2000 census. -- - -- ------- --- - (Tennessee is 17th in percent population change from 2000 to 2007.)

What Others Are Saying about Tennessee's Business and Development

July 2006: The state of Tennessee leads the nation on a per capita basis when it comes to job creation, job retention, and capital investment, according to Business Facilities magazine.

May 2006: Tennessee's business climate as well as the number of new job creation and business expansion projects has prompted Site Selection magazine to give the state a second place ranking on its list of the among the magazine's annual ranking of "Top Ten Most Competitive States."

May 2006: Tennessee received the Silver Shovel award in Area Development magazine's inaugural "Golden Shovel" awards, which recognize states that are successful in job creation and retention efforts.

February 2006: The Southern Growth Policies Board, a bipartisan public policy think bank devoted to strengthening the South's economy, has recognized the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development (ECD) revamped Three-Star program as a best practices program and Southern leader in community certification programs.

January 2006: Four Tennessee Cities Make "America's 50 Hottest Cities" Ranking Tennessee's attractive business climate continues to get national attention, this time landing four metropolitan cities in Expansion Management magazine's "America's 50 Hottest Cities Ranking." For the second year in a row, the Nashville metro area landed at No. 1 on the list. Memphis followed at No. 7 with Knoxville trailing close behind at No. 9. Also, making the top 50 was Jackson at No. 42. Tennessee was the only state included on this year's list with three cities making the top 10.

Ranked No. 5 on Site Selection magazine's highly-respected "2005 Top Business Climate" ranking.
The rankings are determined by reviewing six major areas: general tax bite, transportation and education spending, five-year trends on taxes and spending, spending on government administration, right-to-work laws and debt management.

Ranked No. 1 in debt management by Expansion Management magazine, 2005
The rankings evaluate a percentage of state revenues that go towards paying interest on the state's debt.

No. 9 ranked on Expansion Management magazine's "2005 Top Legislative Quotient List." The ranking ranks governments for their positive impact on their state's business climate.