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Knoxville Business News Tennessee Mountain Scenery Background
June 17, 2015 | Tom Ballard

TAEBC releases first-ever look at state’s advanced energy sector

TAEBC3(EDITOR’S NOTE: The Editor of teknovation.biz is President of the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council.)

Advanced energy is a lucrative growth sector and a source of high quality jobs in the Volunteer State, according to a new report from the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council (TAEBC).

The relatively new organization that champions advanced energy as an economic development and job creation strategy just completed the first comprehensive look at this sector. The findings are contained in a report titled Tennessee Advanced Energy Economic Impact Report.

The study was conducted by the Howard H. Baker, Jr., Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee (UT) and funded by UT’s TN-SCORE initiative, The Energy Foundation, and members of the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council.

Key findings from the report are:

  • Advanced energy is a rapidly expanding and lucrative growth sector in Tennessee. Nearly 325,000 jobs were supported by 17,334 firms in the state’s advanced energy sector in 2013.
  • Advanced energy requires skilled labor and thus is a source of high quality jobs in Tennessee. The annual average wage of a worker in advanced energy was $48,764, which is well above the state average.
  • Tennessee manufacturers benefit from a robust advanced energy sector. This is especially true for Tennessee’s automotive manufacturers that are integrating advanced energy technologies into their processes and products as a result of higher fuel economy standards. Automakers must reach a fleet average of 54.5 MPG by 2025.
  • Advanced energy contributes significantly to our state and local economies. Tennessee’s advanced energy sector contributes $33.4 billion to state gross domestic product, while workers in the advanced energy sector pay more than $820 million in sales tax to state and local governments.
  • Advanced energy represents an opportunity to promote rural economic development. Currently, almost 80 percent of advanced energy activity is centered in just 20 counties in Tennessee. Davidson County leads Tennessee’s advanced energy economy. Rural Tennessee could benefit from further growth in advanced energy activity.

Click here (FINAL_PR_TAEBC Econ Impact Report) to read the TAEBC news release.

 


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