Why new businesses and industries are flocking to Crossville

CROSSVILLE, Tenn. ( WATE ) — New businesses and industries continue to plant their roots in Crossville.

TMS Metalworks was founded in 2023 in Crossville by a family based out of California.

“It’s been wonderful, the people here are so helpful, so interactive with what we tried to do, they’ve been right alongside us, any assistance we’ve needed any of those types of things, they’ve been beautiful,” Manager Mark Thibodeau said.

When Thibodeau got the chance to choose where the company would be based, Crossville was a no-brainer.

“We have a lot of national customers that we deal with, that was one reason. The other reason was I was looking to move into this area here anyways as time was going by, so we found it to be a good centralized location for what we do,” Thibodeau said.

Along with new businesses, entirely new industries have settled in the area in recent years. Whisper Aero was started in Crossville in 2021. The company, according to CEO Mark Moore, specializes in electric aircraft and propulsion technology.

“With the advent of electric cars, now that technology of electric motors and controllers and batteries, it has matured sufficiently to get into aviation. And so while it’s still at the very early stages where there’s only a few electric aircrafts around, over the next five to 10 years you’re going to hear so much more about it,” Moore said.

Moore was formerly the Director of Technology at Uber before founding Whisper Aero. He said the company bought a resort in Crossville to house employees while they were in the initial stages.

“We came to Crossville right from the beginning, because we wanted to live in the future that we were trying to create, and that is people can live work and play anywhere and aren’t forced to move into the big cities that are really expensive,” Moore said.

Whisper Aero’s headquarters are located in the old TAP Publishing building in downtown Crossville, which is now owned by Tennessee Tech. The company has also opened an office in Nashville.

Whisper Aero opened its new $1.2 million flight test center on July 18. It is located at Crossville Memorial Airport.

Expansion in the area is still increasing. The Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce recently received a $4.5 million grant to build a new building in its industrial park. The park is already home to several businesses and has the infrastructure and utilities needed for a new one to move in.

“The only thing that could move this site into a more optimal marketing position is a building because a lot of companies now are working on expedited timelines to get their project up and running,” Hadley said. “So this will give us a little more of an edge in competing for projects that are looking at the state of Tennessee.”

Cumberland County has a regional labor force of 140,000, with workers coming in from nine neighboring counties.

TSM Metalworks is still building its workforce. The company is hiring for:

• Project Coordinator/Estimator: Immediate Hire
• Multiple positions available for upcoming Powder Coat/Finishing Department: lead time of 1-2 months

Those interested can apply by sending their resume or information to resume@tsmetal.works .

Whisper Aero is also still hiring in Crossville. The company is looking to fill these positions:

• Senior CNC Machinist (full time)
• Test Engineer (full time)
• Test Technician (full time)
• Ground Test Intern
• IT Intern
• Manufacturing Process R&D Intern
• Rapid Prototyping Intern

Those interested can apply on the company’s career page.

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