Being A Small Business Owner in “NOWSVILLE”

 

Nashville, TNNASHVILLE, “Nowsville,”

 

All you need to do these days to feel good about where we live is look at what is being written about Nashville.  The New York Times, calls Nashville “Nowsville” and called us, “The It City”.  To read the article, click here: 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/us/nashville-takes-its-turn-in-the-spotlight.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

 

Money Magazine has listed both Franklin (#52) and Hendersonville (#87) in their “Top 100 Best Places to Live” in 2012.  Forbes listed Nashville as the 10th Best Places for Business and Careers. 

 

These are heady statistics.  And encouraging for young businesses like ours that are proving the statistics are correct.

 

This month I had an opportunity to attend a luncheon with the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Scott Foster spoke about our projected growth as a City and the staggering projections for Sumner County’s growth to 2025.  Take a look at these statistics from Tennessee Dept of Transportation:

 

County               2000 Population            Est Population          % change

                                                                         2025

Sumner               130,449                          196,695                      50.8%

Williamson          126,638                          238,606                      88.4%

Davidson             569,891                          678,200                      19.0%

Montgomery       134,768                         229,256                       70.1%

Wilson                   88,809                          143,813                       61.9%                 

 

Hendersonville, TN- Old Hickory Lake 

Sumner County (Hendersonville and Gallatin, TN) is expected to grow a whopping 50.8% over a 25 year period.  But what’s more exciting to me is a statistic from the Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association, which projects that over one half of that projection of growth will be achieved in the next 12 years!!  Sumner County is expected to have a population of 172,150 by 2015, and 196,695 by 2025!! 

 

Imagine.  Another 25,000 people and families moving into Sumner in the next 10-12 years.  And look at Williamson (projected growth 88.4%), Wilson (projected growth 61.9%) and Montgomery (70.1%). 

 

These are incredibly strong numbers!

 

What it all means…

I was living in Atlanta, Georgia during the housing boom of the 80s and 90s and my father was a small business owner in one of its suburbs.  We witnessed firsthand what growth of a community means to one’s family, one’s quality of life and overall sense of well-being.  That experience taught my husband and me to do our homework when we relocated to Valencia, California in 1997 and once again, we enjoyed life in a booming town and economy.  We did it again in 2000 when we relocated to McKinney, TX, which- when we moved had the distinct title, “fastest growing city in the Nation.” 

 

Having lived in three thriving communities, we are EXCITED about the possibilities for Nashville and its surrounding cities and towns.  It’s fun to imagine what companies are looking at Nashville a little differently these days, and what national businesses may be coming.  Growing a family in a thriving community is exciting, but you want to know what is really exciting? 

 

Growing a small business in a thriving community.  Because when you combine the right economic climate, sweat equity, hard work, hope, prayer, and alright….maybe a little bit of pixie dust…

You make the America dream, a reality for your generation…

And the next….

 

 

Gunnar- Edited

Gunnar Milliken, Future President of Elite Landscape

 

 –Shannon Warner