A downtown Bristol Tennessee committee learns about a new TVA program that will help lure business

BRISTOL, Tenn. – If luring new businesses to the Twin City is a hunting expedition, local leaders said Wednesday they have ample ammunition.

A 10-member committee of downtown business owners, city officials and members of the Believe in Bristol board met with a Tennessee Valley Authority representative to learn how to use its Consumer Connection program.

TVA is providing the service at no charge for a year, through its partnership with Bristol Tennessee Essential Services, said TVA Project Manager Chuck Marquis.

"Consumer Connection is TVA’s approach to retail. We aren’t direct recruiters. Our role has been as a capacity-building resource for economic development groups like Believe in Bristol," Marquis said Wednesday, during a break in the three-hour workshop.

"We [TVA] help organize them, get them thinking in terms of marketing plans or marketing strategies," Marquis said.

Adding the Consumer Connection information will be "very, very helpful," said Mike Sparks, Bristol Tennessee’s deputy city manager of development. He added that the service also will be used to help attract businesses to all parts of both Bristols and for industrial recruiting.

"This quantifies some of the work we’ve been doing previously," Sparks said. "It will help us target businesses and companies we want to see grow the retail base of the community. And that’s going to be pretty major."

The program provides detailed demographic and consumer information about Bristol and the surrounding area through the Claritas online directory.

It also provides access to the Crittenden national retailer directory, which has contact, location and other information about hundreds of retail chains.

"The idea is, if we can organize the community effort and understand what the retail gaps are, so we’re not recruiting over the top of existing retailers," Marquis said.

If officials want to continue accessing the Claritas directory, they can pay a $1,000 annual fee, while the Crittenden database is a separate fee, Marquis said.

"People who have done this program tell us it has saved them two years of start-up planning and organizing," Marquis said.

At the end of Wednesday’s session, the group began developing marketing fliers that will target specific types of businesses.

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