Nov. 23—Jeff Woods Construction and its affiliated business Premier Generators are outgrowing their current location on Northside Dr.
But the two businesses will soon have room to grow after the Crossville City Council approved the sale of about 5 acres in the Interchange Business Park.
"Sometimes your best economic development projects are not necessarily new projects, but retention and expansion projects," Crossville City Manager Greg Woods told the council during its Nov. 6 work session.
Bo Woods, with Jeff Woods Construction, said he's looked at property around the area to allow the business to grow.
"We cannot fit any more people in that building," Woods said.
Woods plans to build a new building immediately to house Jeff Woods Construction. This would allow the business to hire an additional 5-10 positions.
"That's going to allow us to have more team members for Jeff Woods Construction to fill those roles for outside sales people, marketing people, HR and accounting," Woods said.
The second phase is planned to add a training center for the Premier Generator business. That would bring 20 or so people to the community from Florida, Georgia and Texas and add 15-20 new employees in Cumberland County.
"We'll be hiring people, giving them jobs with great benefits, and we'll also be bringing revenue into town," Woods said.
The council must advertise its intent to sell the project, which would be $25,000 an acre. The city does offer a $5,000 credit for each new job created from the expansion that meets median wage standards. The money used to purchase the property is escrowed and the company would have a time limit to report on the jobs created from the expansion.
The city's typical timeline for the jobs credit is two years.
"I think he's starting to hire now, so I would recommend as soon as the 30-day advertising period is completed, you can start the clock on those," Woods said. "You're also going to have to decide if it's just the generator folks or the generator folks and Jeff Woods Construction."
City Attorney Randy York was not present for the meeting to address that issue.
Council member Scot Shanks moved to advertise the property for sale at $25,000 an acre, supported by Council member Art Gernt. The motion was unanimously approved.
Woods said he's already been testing soils and has preliminary plans ready for the new facility.
Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.