ECD seeks $122M-plus in line items for nuclear, quantum and rural programs

Stuart McWhorter, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, told the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Feb. 24 that his agency's FY27 request emphasizes targeted, nonrecurring investments to leverage large federal and private funding and position Tennessee for long-term economic growth.

"Since its creation in 2023, this fund has helped attract more than 3,000 new jobs and almost $11,000,000,000 of capital investment," McWhorter said of the state's nuclear supply-chain effort, and he described the department's broader line-item requests as strategic tools to sustain momentum.

The ECD presentation listed the department's major cost increases: $25,000,000 nonrecurring for a Nuclear Supply Chain Investment Fund; $20,000,000 nonrecurring for the Tennessee Entertainment Commission; $25,000,000 nonrecurring for rural development grants (site development, Main Street/downtown improvements and related programs); $2,000,000 for AG Launch (split equally between recurring and nonrecurring); $1,500,000 nonrecurring for the flight incentive program; roughly $538,000 recurring for development district grants; $20,000,000 nonrecurring for a Quantum Infrastructure Initiative; and $2,500,000 nonrecurring for ETSU Eastman Valleybrook Lab.

Members pressed ECD on several implementation and dependency points. Senator Reeves asked whether Tennessee's energy supply and Tennessee Valley Authority capacity limit recruitment of large energy users; McWhorter said TVA has begun exploring options such as behind-the-meter generation and power purchase agreements and that ECD must coordinate closely with TVA and industry as high-capacity projects arrive.

On rural infrastructure, ECD staff said they are working with Dyer County and plan to submit a $5 million build-grant application and a Delta Regional Authority application to support road and related improvements to reach a proposed grain elevator site. Alan Borden described the Coffee County acquisition as "almost 2,000 acres" and said roughly $40 million in water, wastewater and connector-road improvements are planned to ready the site for large projects.

McWhorter characterized the $20 million quantum request as seed money for network and infrastructure development to position Tennessee to leverage federal investments and build on existing assets such as Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Chattanooga's EPB.

After the presentation and questions, the chair moved ECD's $122,000,000 budget to the committee on finance; the motion carried on a recorded voice vote with eight ayes.

Next steps: the budget and the department's line items will be considered by the finance committee.