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Economic growth in Scott County

By Shane Gilreath

[email protected]

With the dawn of every new year comes new expanses and opportunities for Scott County.  The 2024 calendar year proved no exception.  At the end of the 2023 fiscal year, the Boyd Center for Economic Research at the University of Tennessee projected economic growth for the state in 2024.  That statewide projection proved its merit in Scott County, which saw a multitude of opportunities and new businesses spring up throughout last year.  Each new business and their proprietors provide a boost to the local economy, which, in turn, impacts each citizen.  Local businesses generate more tax revenue per sales dollar, according to Rubicon, a digital marketplace for waste and recycling businesses.   Additionally, research shows that local business owners typically are inclined to go the extra mile for their customers and show an increased desire to support community programs.  Taxes paid by local small businesses go to support schools, parks, roads, and other programs that benefit the community.  Local businesses are personally invested in the services and products they are selling, because they live among their customer base. As a result, shopping locally tends to be a very personalized experience.

Tennessee’s real gross domestic product – the “best measure for overall economic growth,” according to Larry Kessler, Boyd Center Research Associate Professor and Project Director –  and which measures the value of all goods and services produced in the economy, was projected to decelerate from 3.3% growth in 2023 to 1.8% growth in 2024.

The positives for Scott County come in spades.  As a rule, local businesses tend to support other local businesses by buying and selling among each other. A local, independently owned restaurant, for example, may source its ingredients from local outlets, which means visitors to such eateries are supporting multiple local businesses each time they dine out.   While Scott County has seen growth in a variety of fields, the hospitality industry, which includes restaurants and other eateries, also showed new growth in 2024.

For Scott County and small towns across America, supporting locally owned means that more money will stay in local communities. For instance, each dollar spent in a Scott County business, a multiplier- which measures additional economic impact of each dollar –  could show that for every dollar spent in the economy an additional $0.25 of economic activity is generated locally, through indirect (business to business), and induced (household) spending. According to recent research from Civic Economics, local eateries tend to return nearly 79 percent of revenue to the community, compared to just over 30 percent for national or international chains. While both are appreciated and play a vital role in the Scott County economy, providing a multitude of jobs, overall, for every $100 spent at a local business, around $73 remains in the community, versus roughly $43 when shopping at a non-locally owned business.

According to Scott County Clerk Felicia Bilbrey,  the following businesses obtained  permits to operate in 2024:

• P&P Excavating

• 144 Speed Shop

• 3-C’s Custom Creations

• AA Window Cleaning

• Alex Scott’s Tree Service

• AM Aesthetics

• Artisan Graze

• Bacar Constructors, Inc

• Beauty by Kyle Lewallen

• Big Ridge Tiny Cabin Rentals

• Big South Fork Outdoor Rentals, LLC

• Black Sheep Designs

• Boo’s Roadhouse

• Botts Hot Box

• Bowling Demolition

• Bri’Obbie’s Roadside Kitchen and Grill

• BS Consulting Service

• Buckhorn Hunting and Fishing, LLC

• Butler Excavating & Equipment, Inc

• Capital Auto

• Child of Light Daycare

• Chris Haggard Plumbing LLC

• CJS HVAC

• Clean & Pristine

• Clippity Doggidy Doo

• Coffey Construction

• Compassion Caregivers & Visitation Services

• Cook’s Pest Control Inc

• County Construction

• Cowgirl Café

• Cross Family Farm

• Cross Property Development Inc

• D&D Farms

• Dogslobber Gardens

• Dough SI Dough Donuts LLC

• East Tennessee Silkie Farm

• Element Asia Tang Inc

• Embrace Hope

• Emmons & Sons Construction

• Energy Employee Services

• Esthetics by Harley

• Esthetics by Lexie

• Factory Connection

• Favs by Rave

• Ferneyhough Farms

• Foiled and Co.

• Get Nailed Salon

• Gladiator Project

• Gloss Works

• Goins Heating & Air Conditioning

• Gray and McCann Construction

• Green Haven

• Hackers Automotive, Inc

• Headdress

• Heart and Home Creative Designs

• Henry’s Excavating & Hauling LLC

• Horizon Compounding Pharmacy LLC

• HPL2

• Hurst Excavating LLC

• Iwicki Plumbing Services

• J&M Cleaning Services

• J Gordon Underground Inc

• Jimmy’s Market 29

• Joey L Massengale

• Jones’s Trading Post

• Joyful Note Studio

• JPL Services LLC

• Keeton’s Jewelry

• King’s Drone & Video

• Landon Strunk DBA Strunk Trucking

• Last Pack Magic

• Layco LLC

• Lee’s Bait & Tackle Shop

• Linda M King DMK Trucking

• Little Looms Boutique

• Locky Top Secure Self Storage

• Lona’s Loven Oven

• M&M Ice/Water

• Mama and Me Tee’s

• Martin Family Medical LLC

• McCann Handyman and Building

• Mighty Oak

• Miles Drywall

• Morgan Jacobs Travels LLC

• Morgan Tree Care

• Morton Buildings Inc

• MTM Trading

• New River Med Spa

• Northside Wholesale and Auction

• Pallet Palace

• Pallet’s Plus

• Pappy’s Place

• Peachy Clean

• Pioneer Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing LLC

• Premier Building Solutions LLC

• Preppy Lynn Co

• Rack & Tap

• Randy Maggard Logging

• Raylie Coffey

• Riella Boutique and Salon LLP

• Robins Jerky

• Robyn Jeffers

• RYCOMM.

• Scooby Doo’s on 27

• Scott Industries LLC

• SJB Trucking LLC

• Smart Style

• Smith’s Honey Creek Horse Camp LLC

• Southfork Construction

• Splinters

• SS Construction & Roofing

• Summers Line Construction LLC

• Switzer Dirt Work LLC

• Ta’s Place

• Taking Care of Business Enterprises LLC

• Tally Ho Tails &Trapping

• TCI Contracting LLC

• Teevolve Designs LLC

• Temp-Masters Inc

• Tennessee Automatic Sprinkler Inc

• Tennier LLC

• Terri’s Mexican Steak House

• Terri’s Tasty Eats

• The Beautique Tanning & Essentials

• The Creek

• The Dakota Touch Cleaning Service

• The Laundrette LLC

• The Novel Genie

• The Oneida Handyman

• The Royal Blue Company

• The Tire Shop

• The Silkie Crafter

• Three Doors Down

• Tiny Trends

• Tire Shop

• Twisted Sisters Salon

• Two Chicks & a Tater

• Two Fields Farm Produce

• Ugly Salesman LLC

• Unreached Grounds LLC

• Vogel Plumbing Inc

• Webb Bucket & Blade

• Wendy’s 14148

• Wildflower Boutique

• Woodland Property Services LLC

• Yeti Flower Farms