Eastman CEO Costa says region needs more amenities to attract talent.

[Ted Bear]

Originally Posted by queenladybug817

I'm an airplane price junkie. We lived in Arizona briefly and had to fly 6 children back to the midwest regularly for custody reasons. I learned comparison shopping out of pure necessity. (We once drove 5 hours to El Paso TX because they happened to have a deal on flights to Nashville and even adding in the cost of gas, saved us over $500.)

Since my husband and I are flying up to NYC for a wedding this fall, I did a quick price check. For the weekend in question, November 14-16, these were the prices on Kayak. (I'd search more, but I'm being lazy.)
Tri-Cities to Newark $354 pp
Asheville to Newark $300 pp (Had a couple less expensive, but they returned to SC???)
Charlotte to Newark $281 pp

Not enough of a difference to call it price gouging. Yes, TRI is regional. There is the whole supply and demand thing going on, so the prices in a lower volume airport, that typically services regional "puddle jumpers" with fewer seats is going to have a higher price than an airport that is a hub of a major airline. (Charlotte). As I've mentioned, comparing us to Asheville is silly. They have a higher volume and that by the laws of economics brings the price down.

The JC mall a throwback to the 70s? It's not big, but I wouldn't go that far in describing it. I personally was a bit surprised at a mall its size had the stores it did. I found it to be relatively modern looking and not half bad.

Not to cherry pick on certain data, but I don't get the airline thing.

First of all, TRI is SO convenient. It is right here, you pull up, park for next to nothing, dash in, go through security, and fifteen minutes later you are on your plane. Is there an easier airport in which to do all of that?

So, okay, I can save $50 by flying from Ashville (that deal circulates, BTW. Some times it is TRI, other times Knoxville or Ashville).

But, do some math. 100 miles round trip to Ashville at $.50/mile, and there is your $50.00 in savings gone up in smoke. Throw in two hours of your time to drive down and back, and there goes another $50.00. Suddenly the extra $50 from TRI is actually a bargain. And the connection out of Charlotte is exactly the same.

Want to drive to Charlotte to save $75? Okay.....that's $100 extra in auto expenses, plus higher parking, plus six hours of your time. All told, it costs you $250 to save that $75 !

What was the poster above talking about "everything at the Tri Cities airport is outrageously expensive"? What IS there at the Tri Cities airport that you could buy? Newspaper is $.75 no matter where you buy it!

JC Mall...went in there once. Short Hills it isn't, but I only went in there once too. I enjoy shopping at Mom and Pop stores where they know their products, and yes, you pay slightly more, but you generally get quality and you are supporting the local economy. Anything of a 'commodity' nature which I would buy in a Mall (blue jeans, for example) I buy on line.

[DubbleT]

Meh, even people in Memphis drive to Nashville or Little Rock to catch a plane because of cheaper prices.
Memphis has, I think, ONE train that stops on it's way from NO to Chicago, assuming it still stops there.
Other than the Memphis in May concert series, Memphis residents usually have to go elsewhere to see big name concert acts. Even Knoxville no longer gets the Trans Siberian concerts.
Malls are dead, dying everywhere. The malls I used to shop to in Mobile, several Memphis malls, all dead or barely hanging on or reinvented for other uses.
My point is that a lot of the things being mentioned are not unique to this area, they are happening all over.

[Serious Conversation]

Kingsport Times-News: Eastman also recruits

Well, Costa put out another statement this morning about how Eastman is also trying to help attract and retain new business to the region. Three years on from the original thread, what changes do you see along those lines? Personally, I see a small regression in Kingsport, living and working there now. Johnson City and Bristol have improved. None of this is really attributable to anything Eastman did or didn't do.

I thought this was the best statement of the article.

Spoiler

“Any one city, frankly, doesn’t have the scale by itself to be compelling,” he observed. “As a region, I think we can be very compelling. We have to have a regional mentality about this. I have felt strongly about that since the time I came into this job.

[rccrain]

I think the main thing that harms Eastman's ability to recruit is the culture that Costa has created. Very few employees speak highly of Eastman anymore.

[Rangerred]

The JC metro is fully embracing the regional economic development mindset with NETREP, which Sullivan County declined to participate in. I think the only way a regional strategy will work is for all the local governments to acknowledge Johnson City as the economic hub and focus city of Northeast TN. And although it will never happen, I would go as far as to drop the whole "Tri-Cities" label. This doesn't mean that Kingsport would wither away and die but rather they can focus on "rightsizing" and finding/promoting their own unique identity rather than focusing on unfettered growth and silly incentives in an attempt to keep up with JC.

In many other metros, whether it's Asheville, Greenville, Knoxville, etc., there is a growing focus city that is able to lift up the entire region. A company moving to one of these metros is going to look at the region as a whole, not just one city. The Upstate Alliance in South Carolina is a good example of what NETREP is trying to become in terms of promoting an entire region rather than certain cities and counties.

In the end, there should be a singular economic development agency for the region. Promote Johnson City as the regional hub while at the same time, highlighting the unique character and amenities offered by the smaller cities in the region; and the excellent transportation infrastructure connecting the cities. Let Kingsport, Bristol, etc. thrive as smaller, lower cost of living options to a larger focus city. One must remember that by 2020 Johnson City could have nearly 20,000 more people than Kingsport.