Editing Morristown, Tennessee (section)

====Industrial development====
Beginning in 1959, following then presidential candidate [[John F. Kennedy]]'s exposure to poverty in [[Appalachia]], Morristown officials began a joint effort with Tennessee [[economic development]] representatives to establish the city as a major industrial hub, and the program began with the construction and completion of the East Tennessee Valley Industrial District (ETVID) industrial park in eastern Morristown near [[Russellville, Tennessee|Russellville]].<ref name="newman">{{cite journal |last1=Newman |first1=Anne |editor1-last=Kendrick |editor1-first=Elise |title=The Recruiters and the Recruited: How One Town Filled an Industrial Park |journal=Appalachia |date=1981 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=6–19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eJMHJyHZ6V8C&q=Morristown |access-date=September 14, 2020 |publisher=[[Appalachian Regional Commission]] |location=[[University of California, Berkeley]] |language=en}}</ref> In 1962, the world's largest manufacturer of chains, the [[Jeffrey Manufacturing Company]] opened a plant to manufacture its steel thimble roller chains.<ref>{{cite news |title=Big chain maker chose Morristown over fifty possible plant sites, started in February |work=Morristown Gazette Mail |date=8 July 1962|page=14}}</ref>

By 1978, the {{convert|375|acre|km2}} ETVID industrial park had reached its estimated capacity, prompting city officials to develop a second industrial park.<ref name="newman"/> After acquiring a {{convert|670|acre|km2}} site in western Morristown near [[Morristown Regional Airport]] in the same year, city officials developed the site into the Morristown Airport Industrial District (MAID) industrial park in 1981.<ref name="newman"/> Five months after the park's completion, two companies opened facilities at the MAID.<ref name="newman"/> As overall economic prosperity continued to make gains in Morristown, city officials and development representatives have cited Morristown's industrial development initiative as an example of [[economic growth]]:<ref name="newman"/>

In the 1990s, the City of Morristown acquired over {{convert|900|acre|km2}} near [[Interstate 81 in Tennessee|Interstate 81]] exit 8 for its third industrial park, the East Tennessee Progress Center (ETPC).<ref name="etpc">{{cite web |title=Hamblen County - East Tennessee Progress Center |url=https://www.tn.gov/rural/resources/best-practices/site-development/hamblen-county---east-tennessee-progress-center.html |website=[[Tennessee|State of Tennessee]] |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref> Initial site development such as roadway and utility upgrades were completed in 2001.<ref name="etpc"/> Several large manufacturers opened facilities at the site, but further infrastructure upgrades, grading work, and property acquisition was done on the site throughout the 2000s and 2010s.<ref name="etpc"/><ref name="etpcgrant"/>

Following the [[2007-2012 global economic crisis]], Morristown saw the loss of one of its largest employers, Berkline, which closed after filing for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] in 2011.<ref name="suddenexit">{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Larry |title=Sudden exit for Berkline |url=https://www.furnituretoday.com/business-news/sudden-exit-for-berkline/ |access-date=October 1, 2020 |work=[[FurnitureToday]] |date=May 2, 2011}}</ref> The furniture manufacturer, which relocated to the city in 1937, eliminated 602 jobs and ended an era of Morristown being known as a predominately furniture manufacturing hub:<ref name="marcum closing">{{cite news |last1=Marcum |first1=Ed |title=Furniture maker Berkline closing Morristown operation |url=http://archive.knoxnews.com/news/local/furniture-maker-berkline-closing-morristown-operation-ep-405343135-357963621.html |access-date=October 1, 2020 |work=[[Knoxville News Sentinel]] |date=March 30, 2011}}</ref>

{{Blockquote
|text="For two or three generations, Morristown has been considered a furniture town, and this is the last of the major furniture operations here."
|author=Hamblen County Mayor Bill Brittain
|title="Furniture maker Berkline closing Morristown operation"
|source=''[[Knoxville News Sentinel]]'' (2011)
}}

In 2018, [[Belgium|Belgian]] bus manufacturer [[Van Hool]] announced the construction of a {{convert|500,000|sqft|m2}} facility at the ETPC (East Tennessee Progress Center), <ref name="etpc"/> one of the largest industrial development projects in the history of Morristown.<ref name="commissionerrolfe">{{cite web |title=Governor Haslam, Commissioner Rolfe announce Van Hool NV to establish first US manufacturing facility in Morristown |url=https://tnecd.com/news/governor-haslam-commissioner-rolfe-announce-van-hool-nv-to-establish-first-us-manufacturing-facility-in-morristown/ |website=Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development |publisher=[[Tennessee|State of Tennessee]] |access-date=September 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name="howington">{{cite news |last1=Howington |first1=Glenna |title=Anatomy of A Deal: Meet the Van Hools |url=https://www.citizentribune.com/special_sections/progress_edition_2019/anatomy-of-a-deal-meet-the-van-hools/article_8aa97afa-56fb-11e9-8e3a-8365a6f5ce48.html |access-date=September 14, 2020 |work=Citizen Tribune |date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> The project expects to create an estimated 650 jobs, over $47 million in private investment and an influx of interest of further [[industrial development]] in the Morristown area.<ref name="etpc"/><ref name="vanhool">{{cite web |title=Van Hool builds bus factory in Morristown, Tennessee, US |url=https://www.vanhool.be/en/news/van-hool-builds-bus-factory-in-morristown-tennessee-us |website=[[Van Hool]] |access-date=September 14, 2020 |date=April 12, 2018 }}</ref>