Sevierville, TN : This Quiet Giant has Emerged from the Shadows! Part 1

I can remember as a small child vacationing to East Tennessee in the small towns of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  They were small quaint towns with an americana feel that was like no other place I had ever been.  The City of Sevierville was just a small town that you drove through to reach your destination.  There was very little business or tourism in Sevierville, but it turns out that it would be a economic and commercial giant that had been hibernating for decades. 

 Currently both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are chock full of hotels, attractions, outlet malls, and restaurants.  These businesses generate billions of dollars each year. To be exact, Sevier County ranked third highest among all Tennessee counties in travel expenditures in 2005 at just over 1.3 billion.  Thats billion with a "B"!  However, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have very little available real estate left.  What you see is what you get.  The only way for new business to establish themselves in these lucrative towns is to purchase space since vacated by unsuccessful companies and corporations.  Those are few and far between. 

The City of Sevierville, the largest of the 3 main cities that make up Sevier County, is beginning it's boom in the economic scheme of things. Unlike its sister cities of Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, and due to the topography of its "foothills" location, Sevierville continues to be a city where broad tracts of land are available for commercial growth.  As more and more businesses and corporations explore their opportunites and potential marketshare in East Tennessee, the city that is most sought after is Sevierville.  The amount of building permits in Sevierville has increased from just under 300 in 1995 to over 800 in 2005.  In conjunction with that fact, the building valuations has grown from $30,000,000 in 1995 to over $70,000,000 in 2006.  One of the most recent additions to The city of Sevierville is the new Bridgemont Convention Center.  The new center will begin hosting conventions in Sept. 2007.  Visitors of the new convention center can stay on site at the events center hotel that features an indoor waterpark and an onsite championship 18-hole golf course.  The new Convention Center at Bridgemont is expected to draw groups and trade shows by the droves and is well on its way at doing so.  Currently the Convention Center is 50% booked through 2015 and has at least one booking already for 2026!  The 1,000 acre complex is projected to produce about $600 million in annual gross receipts.

(To be continued...)

Fancy First Letter Courtesy of Spoken Gently.

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