Why Tennessee would be a great place to do business (For MHM)

I have done a little bit of research into Tennessee, their Governor and why it appears to be a great place to do business. Obviously we don’t have solid confirmation yet of where MHM will locate their plant, however, I feel it is important to get an insight into the local business environment in which we may operate.

Firstly, a huge problem in politics all around the world is the fact that many leaders have ZERO business experience. As a result they have been bought up in the world of text books and economic theory that have very little relevance to the day to day operation of a business and its growth plans. Now I am not sure if MHM have spoken directly to the Governor of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, however it is very pleasing to note that from the age of Thirteen Bill got a job pumping gas at a family owned service station, which exposed him to the day to day operations of a small business.

Later in his life, and after completing University, he moved to Knoxville and managed the family’s small chain of gas stations. When he joined the company, Pilot Corporation, had only 800 employees, when he left it employed more than 14,000 in 39 states. This demonstrates (to me at least), the Bill has a pretty good understanding of how a business operates and the challenges it faces. Even if he has not spoken to MHM directly, I expect that his leadership/manage style would be reflected through the offices of his government. He entered politics in 2003 as the Mayor of Knoxville and was re-elected in 2007. In 2010 he ran for Governor and was elected on 2 November 2010. As a side note the each Governor is appointed to a four year term and can have a maximum of two consecutive terms. If MHM are in fact being supported by Tennessee and therefore the Governor, this is quite pleasing as he has only been in office for one year and could potentially be there for another seven.

So that is a little bit about the Governor and his past, but where does he see the state going. Well the top priority of the state is “jobs and economic development”. But more importantly it is stated that Bill’s administration wants to make Tennessee the No. 1 state in the Southeast for “high quality jobs”. In my opinion MHM’s operations certainly fall into this category for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is environmentally friendly (green) and should therefore be welcomed by the community and secondly it has an endless supply of material (as long as there is aluminium/aluminium recycling there is opportunity for MHM).

Okay, so that gives some confidence that MHM would be located in a good state if indeed Tennessee is the location of our plant, but what about the incentives? Well luckily in the past year Bill has already shown his commitment to sustaining industry in the state. Admittedly these are larger projects but recent grants have been handed to Electrolux for a plant near Memphis and Wacker Chemie for a plant in Cleveland. As another side note it is a funny coincidence that his Wacker plant will manufacture hyperpure polycrystalline silicon for use in solar and semiconductor industries (this is the same company that MHM was previously in discussion with about an offtake agreement with their Silica projects in Tasmania, another I am not suggesting there is any link with the above). As a result there is already precedent for incentives associated for new industries entering the state or company’s looking to expand their operations.

Finally Bill Haslam also favours a conservative state budget and keeping taxes low in order to create and maintain a business-friendly environment. All positives in my opinion.