Kiwanis Club of Omaha Westside

by GREG KAYLOR, Banner Staff Writer Cleveland Daily Banner 24 mins 7 secs ago | 16 views | 0   | 0   |   |  MainStreet Cleveland started up its year Monday as Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland gave a prelude to his “State of the City” address to be delivered Thursday.The speech will be presented in full at the Cleveland Kiwanis luncheon, but the mayor did mention a number of items which “in a year’s time” have come to the forefront.“Wacker’s is the largest single investment in the U.S. today,” Rowland said as he addressed a room full of business and civic leaders tied to MainStreet Cleveland.The investment in the local Wacker Polysilicon North America facility is more than $1.5 billion.“We are blessed in this community to have all of our industrial parks filled. Exit 20’s proposed commercial and business park will fill quickly and we are working to find property and solve these problems,” he said, indicating industry would be looking for locations to build.The search is a city, county and Cleveland Utilities venture.The “Name the City” contest established by the mayor mid-year continues to linger. A $1,000 cash prize was established by local businesses at the request of the mayor. The City Council and the mayor’s office have the task of choosing the name.Rowland also mentioned the success of First Street Square and MainStreet businesses such as Catch, Sifted and the Chattanooga Billiard Clubs in the downtown area. Red Ribbon and other businesses have also migrated closer to the popular Five Points area during the past year.“This will be the 20th year of Cleveland’s distinction as ‘Tree City’ USA and The Mayor’s Coalition (a joint effort between Rowland and County Mayor Gary Davis) continues to work well with the Long-Term Recovery Organization.” The mayor also mentioned area Tennessee Department of Transportation projects, noting, “We have a number of them going on.” He spoke of the new traffic signals on 25th Street/Georgetown Road at Interstate 75 as well as other travel improvements.“Exit 20 will be completely replaced. A new interchange for the commercial and business park is being planned and a proposed widening of Mouse Creek Road to Lauderdale Memorial Highway is also being looked at,” he said.Rowland also mentioned the many products made by diverse industries in Cleveland and Bradley County, as well as new industry such as Wacker, Amazon, the new Whirlpool facility, Olin and a new municipal airport.He attributed a 7 percent unemployment rate to growth and expansion of these businesses.A section of roadway near Lee University is being named in honor of Billy Graham who briefly attended school here. Dedication ceremonies are being planned. “We want a family member present and we are currently working to plan a luncheon — possibly in February — and have a member of Billy Graham’s family here for a dedication,” Rowland explained.“Billy Graham preached his first sermon at Charleston Methodist Church. This is a significant piece of history we have here,” he said.In 2011, Rowland said 100 new residences were constructed. Building permits totaled $38,798,000.These and many other attributes were noted during his address.“We have existing industry here to inform prospective industry that Cleveland is a great place to do business,” Rowland said.Davis will address the MainStreet members in February.

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