When Volkswagen came shopping, Chattanooga was ready, thanks in no small part to BWSC. After an all-out nationwide search, Volkswagen selected Chattanooga’s Enterprise South Industrial Park as the location for its new North American assembly plant. To transform a former ammunition plant from ugly duckling to pageant winner took a lot of late nights, gutsy calls, and unending dedication by BWSC’s Chattanooga office staff as part of the local economic development team led by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.

BWSC worked for the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, and the Chamber of Commerce as a consultant on Enterprise South for the past seven years. The former Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant was sold to the city and county in 2000 and remarketed as Enterprise South Industrial Park in 2002. BWSC was hired to provide a variety of design services to assist in this effort. Services included the development of customized information on short notice and meeting directly with prospects. The objective: Make the site competitive in the global marketplace by removing old facilities, upgrading the utilities, creating a new entrance, and developing a master plan to showcase the site’s traits.

Enterprise South was certified as a TVA Mega Site in 2005 by McCallum Sweeney Consulting. As a part of the local economic development team, BWSC played a key role in the certification process. The site began appearing on lists of megasites—locations deemed suitable for large industrial and manufacturing uses. And suitors came calling, including Kia and Toyota. There were some serious inquiries, but none led to a proposition suitable to the city and county.

BWSC knew the site was right for someone, but felt strongly that more work was needed. The firm advised the chamber, city and county to move ahead aggressively to make the site even more appealing. The problem was the presence of two streams running through the site. Constructed by the Army when the site was developed during the 1940s, these streams—better described as drainage ditches—were regulated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. If a large, single entity were to locate at Enterprise South, these streams would have to be relocated. They ran right through the heart of the site, exactly where they were most in the way.

Moving and restoring a stream is no easy task, and BWSC knew this would be a significant item of concern for any prospect. In April 2008, BWSC advised going ahead with the permitting process, which could take 12-18 months to gain approval. As Volkswagen began to look seriously at the site, the city and county agreed with BWSC’s recommendation and the process was initiated.

In May, Volkswagen visited Chattanooga and Enterprise South. The Volkswagen personnel and consultants liked what they saw but were worried that the aggressive construction schedule could not be met. The site was not cleared and there was the issue of the regulated streams being in the way.

With a live one on the line, Hamilton County Mayor Ramsey and Chattanooga Mayor Littlefield with support from the state of Tennessee, directed BWSC staff along with city and county staff to get the site ready. BWSC began fast-tracking the bid and permit process for the removal of vegetation and grading before the next site visit which was to occur in 3 weeks. In the meantime, the permitting and design process for the stream relocation was moving forward at warp speed.

Less than a month later, Volkswagen officials returned and were impressed with what they saw. Permits for the stream relocation had just been submitted. A public meeting on the stream relocation (a requirement of the regulations) occurred on July 15th, the same day Volkswagen announced that Chattanooga’s Enterprise South was their chosen location. Final permit approval would come three weeks later. The seemingly impossible had been done. A process that normally takes a year or more was accomplished in only a few months.

BWSC’s Chattanooga office manager Matt Stovall sums up the firm’s involvement this way: “I want people to know that this was a huge effort by everyone involved. The city and county identified their goals for this site and began working their way towards achieving them. BWSC was right there with them from the start, and we gave 24/7 service. There were multiple site plans, piles of technical info—we were responding to emails at eleven o’clock on Saturday nights. For a community to win a plant like VW takes preparation and planning, and you need a partner like us.”

Matt Kisber, the State Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, had this to say when he celebrated the state’s victory: “Volkswagen said that a key driver was that the site had to be infrastructure-ready. The typical 12 to 18 months took a lot of sites out of the running…. A lot of states were competing for VW, but very few had done what they needed to do to be ready.”

BWSC is proud to have been a part of the team that achieved Chattanooga’s history-making endeavor.