Jefferson County Ranking Solid But Future Momentum Lagging Behind

Jefferson County is in need of a boost in momentum in human capitol, according to a recently released report by the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. While the County currently ranks 20th out of 95 Tennessee counties in human capitol, it falls sharply to 64th of 95 counties on momentum to carry through the next decade. Human Capitol is determined by a variety of factors including health of the county, education, mortality rates, teen pregnancy, labor and workforce development and the general progress of the community. According to the report, which was commissioned to get an overview of the human assets that exist in Tennessee to attract large scale business to the area, Jefferson County is currently sitting in an advantageous position regarding human capitol, however the County is not expected to keep up with its peer’s advancements in the next decade. An aging residential base, with dwindling numbers in the work force, is one contributing factor. Jefferson County is aging as a community and census demographics suggest that trend will continue over the next decade. In addition, the inability of the County to bring in mid level employment to the area has left a deficit in educated labor in Jefferson County and lack of a long term business plan point to the continuation of the situation locally. The present high ranking may be largely contributed to the County wide growth boom of the previous two decades, however the sustainability of that boom is not strong enough to overcome the overall lack of momentum.

Jefferson County Mayor Palmieri stated that, while he is generally pleased with the current ranking, he, too, is concerned about the lack of momentum to move Jefferson County into the next ten years. He cited a lack of a County owned Business Park and the County’s inability to move ahead with pursuing clean industry to the area as one of the factors that is limiting Jefferson County. The Mayor stated that it will take a cohesive legislative body to make the moves that are necessary to keep Jefferson County competitive with other counties in the State. According to Palmieri, long term planning has been virtually non existent during the current governing body’s term, due to their inability to work together toward a common goal. Mayor Palmieri stated that the failure of the megasite project should not stall other economic progress in Jefferson County and that the County’s future cannot be dependent on only one avenue of development. As an aging community, there should be consideration given to businesses that capitalize on the needs and strengths of our residents, as well as attracting and keeping a viable, educated workforce in our community.

Though Jefferson County has a good current standing but did not fare well in regard to momentum, neighboring Hamblen County moved from a current rank of 56th to a top ten ranking in momentum. Cocke County had a low 92nd ranking for current standing but improved to 71 in momentum and Sevier County dropped from a 25th current standing to 45th in momentum.