Not all opportunities are good ones.

That was the message Shane Hooper, president-CEO of the Shelbyville-Bedford Partnership told members of the 231 North Business Park Oversight Committee Tuesday about the remaining 26 acres in the park.

“The interest we have received in the property has mostly been warehouse projects,” Hooper said. “Warehousing projects are fine, but the warehousing opportunities that have approached us have a pay scale lower than our median income.

“There is nothing wrong with a warehouse operation. We have to have those. The problem is they tend to take up space that could be used for higher-paying manufacturing jobs.”

Bedford County’s median income is $42,000. Hooper is seeking industries that will pay at or preferably above that amount. The logic is simple. The larger the median income in the county, the better the chances of new businesses choosing to locate here.

“We have made $42,000 the benchmark,” Hooper said. “We are trying to raise the income levels here.”

The median income figure varies based on who is supplying the data. But Hooper stresses there is one constant, regardless of what median income is reported.

“The one constant is every single county around us is either right there with us or they have a higher median income,” Hooper said. “When you elevate income families can have a higher standard of living. They can have higher hopes, dreams, and aspirations for their families. They can provide more for their families.”

Hooper adds that higher incomes jobs usually include health insurance as a benefit.

“When you have health insurance you may not understand the importance of it, but when you don’t have it that lack is very pronounced,” Hooper said. “We want to make sure we attract jobs that elevate income levels, but that also provide health insurance. That is important for the quality of life.”

Hooper said there are four primary avenues used to receive information about possible projects for the city and county – the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), business retention and expansion visits by Partnership, and random communications when someone sends an email or makes a phone call to find out what is available locally.

“Sometimes those business retention and expansion visits reveal other opportunities such as expansion they want to do or they may talk about bringing in one of their suppliers,” Hooper said. “Those are always exciting opportunities.”

He ranks these visits, along with the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development as the most productive methods of generating potential clients in terms of knowing the capabilities of the city and county.

“When we get random calls most of the time, they are for projects that could fit anywhere like a warehouse,” Hooper said. “When you get those calls, you have to have an established thought process about what we are looking for and what would be a good fit for us.

“We see boundaries like city limits and county lines. Industries don’t see those. They are looking for a place where they can be successful with an available force. They frankly don’t care if they are to the right or the left of the county line.”