East Tennessee - Economy

Economy

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, East Tennessee's economy relied heavily on subsistence agriculture. By 2000, however, just over 1% of the region's population was employed in agriculture or related industries. As of the 2000 census, manufacturing accounted for roughly 20% of region's jobs, with the largest employers being Eastman Chemical in Kingsport (10,000 employees), Sea Ray in Knoxville (3,500 employees), and Denso Manufacturing in Maryville and Athens (over 3,000 employees). Health and education services accounted for another 20% of the region's jobs, with major employers being Bluecross-Blueshield of Tennessee (4,144 employees), the Tennessee Department of Health in Chattanooga (4,000 employees), and the Baptist Hospital system in Knoxville (4,000 employees). Tourism and recreational industries account for just under 10% of East Tennessee's workforce, the primary attractions being the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (9 million visitors per year), the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga (one million visitors per year), and historical sites such as the Museum of Appalachia and Rugby. Other significant employers included the Chattanooga trucking firms U.S. Xpress (8,100 employees) and Covenant Transportation (5,000 employees), and the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge (4,750 employees). Mussel shoals in the upper Tennessee River valley, mainly above Knoxville, constitute the only important source of freshwater pearls in the United States.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, headquartered in Knoxville, provides most of the region's electricity via its hydroelectric dams as well as coal-fired plants near Kingston and Rogersville, the Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station, the Raccoon Mountain Pumped-Storage Plant, and a wind-powered facility atop Buffalo Mountain near Oak Ridge. In recent years, TVA's effectiveness has been debated, with some arguing it saved East Tennessee from a bleak future, and others claiming the agency is a mismanaged, wasteful bureaucracy.