Haslam headed to Europe for a week

News release from Department of Economic and Community Development

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bob Rolfe will travel to Europe from June 26 to June 30 for an economic development trip designed to strengthen ties with European businesses and increase foreign direct investment (FDI) in Tennessee.

During the weeklong trip, Haslam and Rolfe will pitch Tennessee’s advantages to a number of European businesses interested in establishing operations in the Southeast U.S. The trip will include stops in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Germany.

Tennessee led the nation in job creation from foreign direct investment in 2013 and 2015, according to IBM-PLI’s Global Location Trends report.

“We’ve put an emphasis on attracting more foreign direct investment to Tennessee because it brings high quality jobs to Tennessee communities and helps diversify our economy,” Haslam said. “This upcoming trip to Europe will allow us to forge stronger ties with several European companies and build on our recent international recruitment momentum.”

“Europe is home to successful global companies in a variety of industries that are primed for growth in Tennessee, from the advanced manufacturing and business services sectors to information technology and automotive industries,” Rolfe said. “Gov. Haslam and I look forward to sharing Tennessee’s story in Europe and building upon Tennessee’s existing partnerships with European businesses, as we travel to six countries in the span of six days.”

There are more than 500 European-owned businesses that operate in Tennessee, employing approximately 62,000 Tennesseans. Since 2011, European businesses have pledged to invest $3.8 billion in Tennessee and committed to create more than 19,000 jobs.

Among notable European FDI projects announced so far in 2017, Nokian Tyres of Finland announced in May it would invest $360 million to build a new tire manufacturing facility in Dayton, creating at least 400 new jobs. Dutch specialty chemical company AkzoNobel announced plans in January to invest $10 million to expand its Nashville production facility.

TNECD staff will join Haslam and Rolfe on the trip. Updates can be found on Facebook at facebook.com/tnecd and Twitter at @tnecd.