Oak Ridge vs. Tri-Cities (Kingsport, Maryville: relocating, military, job)

[TennesseeGirl]

Hi everyone,

I've been reading your posts for a while and they have been very helpful. I will be relocating to TN in October!!!!!! I am originally from Maryville and most of my extended family lives there, but have not lived there myself since I was a child. And that was a long time ago. My husband will be retiring after 22 years in the military, so it's finally my turn to choose where we live. Last summer we spent a couple of weeks driving around looking at things, and fell in love with the tri-cities area. But we are a little concerned about job prospects. We are also considering Oak Ridge because he may be able to translate his military experience to a job at the National Laboratory. We are torn. Both places are pretty, but we really really liked tri-cities. So, my questions are, who are the major employers in JC and Kingsport for non-medical types? My husband is in aviation and I am a human resources specialist. Are there any other major employers in Oak Ridge besides the national lab? Also, what are the cultural differences between Oak Ridge and tri-cities? Which is friendlier to newcomers? Thanks for your opinions.