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Editor’s Note: This is the first in a three part series stemming from Chamber President Marshall Ramsey’s discussion at the Women in Business Meeting Friday.

The non-stop growth in Morristown – commercial, retail and residential – can be easily explained, according to someone who spends his workday smack in the middle of it all.

“We’re a very regional community,” Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce President Marshall Ramsey said.

“Fifty-five percent of our workforce lives outside ot the community and come from eight surrounding counties. We don’t even count Knox County and we get 1,000 workers a day from there.”

“So that’s important to know as you look at the development of Hamblen County and why we have the things we do and how that regional community population works.”

One of several question directed at Ramsey whenever he is out and about: “Why did the Chamber put this there?”

“Trust me, the Chamber puts nothing anywhere,” Ramsey told the crowd of 60 gathered on Feb. 3 at the first Women in Business meeting of 2023.

“Our goal isn’t to put things in places; our goal is to provide information to help companies and businesses make smart decisions about where they need to go.

“So that regional community workforce is a big part of that. If you look at Morristown and Hamblen County as a whole, I say we don’t deserve a lot of what we have in retail/commercial because, based on our numbers alone, we shouldn’t have what we have: we shouldn’t have a mall, we shouldn’t have Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, Longhorn – all those things.

“Based on our numbers alone, we don’t justify those. We justify those because of those eight surrounding counties coming here to work and spending their money,” Ramsey said.

So what’s the most ‘valuable dollar’ a community can make?

“The tourist dollar: because they come, they leave their money and then they go. Tourists generally don’t tax your healthcare system, your school system, your fire and police departments. It’s good earning for a community because after they spend it, they go,” Ramsey said.

In Hamblen County, fishing tournaments bring in revenue of $50,000 per weekend and that’s just what stays local: hotel/motel tax, gas and food. The four disc golf parks (five, counting an extra set of baskets, according to Ramsey) will bring in 560 players from 40 states and multiple foreign countries, bringing in an average of local revenue per four-day tournament of $250,000. Car tags during casual play dates hail from Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. A successful professional disc player earns on average $100,000 per year.

“Tourism is a big part of what we do,” Ramsey said.

A brief history of tourism in Sevier County provides an example of how a community can adapt to changing trends.

“People used to go to Sevier County to visit the national park. Now, you can’t get to the park through Sevier County – you’ve got to go to Cocke County and drive the back way. They figured out that the national park honestly didn’t hold (local revenue) value other than being a draw – folks didn’t spend money in the park. So what popped up along the route into the park are all the businesses and entertainment venues that do bring the revenue value to the county,” Ramsey said.

Roughly 90 percent of Ramsey’s time is spend on industrial development. More than 100 industries are located in Hamblen County.

He addressed the elephant in the room – the one that tastes like chicken – first.

Koch Food processes 1.2 million chickens per week. Those chickens live an average of 43 days, genetically grown to be eaten and are fed a specifc protein diet, not steroids, Ramsey said.

“It’s an exact science,” he said.

The chickens processed by Koch do not end up in grocery stores; the white meat is sold nationally to high-end restaurants (rumored at one time to have included Chick-fil-A) and the dark meat is sold internationally.

When he gets a phone call from, say, a city official commenting, “It smells a little rough out there,” Ramsey will retort, “It smells like 1,000 jobs to me.”

The company formerly known as Burnett’s Produce was initially located in downtown Morristown prior to the urban renewal plan and the building of Morris Boulevard, near where Dairy Queen is now. The decision was made to move the plant outside the city limits which ended where Crescent Center Shopping Center is now.

“No-one at the time thought Morristown would grow beyond that point,” Ramsey said.

The company spends $500,000 per year in scent technology to mitigate the odor at its facilities, including the kill plant.

“If you’ve noticed over the years, the smell has gotten better,” Ramsey said, “although there’s only so much you can do when you’re processing chickens. It’s a good company. If you notice the hiring/wage signs, they’re paying $19 per hour.”

“If you look at our manufacturing base, each of our 100 has a story,” he said, before offering his endorsement of Colgate Total toothpaste.

“All Colgate Total sold in North America is made right here. All the Colgate Total mouthwash is made here, all the Colgate dental products are made here,” Ramsey said.

“It’s important to learn what these business do and purchase their products because that supports your friends, their families.”

“Most of the support our community receives from those industries goes to small businesses. If you own a small business, ask your customers where they work,” he said.