Not if you're Maytag in Cleveland, Tenn.

Tom Briatico, vice president and general manager of Maytag Cleveland Cooking Products, explains why the Cleveland area, located in southeast Tennessee about 30 miles east of Chattanooga, is important to his company's success.

"In this area, we've managed to retain an exceptionally high quality of work force," said Briatico. "We have very low turnover and absenteeism rates. We've added approximately 800 new people over the last year; 500 of these were to fill newly created jobs as a result of Maytag's consolidation in 1996."

Maytag's stove manufacturing operations underwent an internal consolidation, in which an Indiana facility was closed and moved to another Maytag stove-making plant in Cleveland. The Cleveland site will produce the Maytag, Magic Chef, and Jenn-Air lines of stoves.

"It is a tribute to Cleveland and Bradley County to know that we have the caliber of people in this community to fill this many jobs," said Briatico.

A qualified, plentiful work force isn't the only reason for Maytag's success in southeast Tennessee. Maytag benefits from the strong educational opportunities in the area, which help to further improve the skills and careers of their 2,500 employees.

"At the college level, we have Cleveland State Community College and Lee College in our community," said Briatico. "We are only half-an-hour's drive from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and are also close to the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville. We are firm believers in making available educational and job training opportunities to our employees. We do this through our Skills Development Center, which works in conjunction with educational facilities like Cleveland State Community College and the UT-Chattanooga. We're thrilled to have the opportunity to help our employees better themselves through a quality education."

Competitive utility costs are found across the state, and a heavy power user such as Maytag Cleveland Cooking Products takes full advantage of this benefit.

"We have the best electricity rates in the Maytag Corporation," said Briatico. "We credit this to the Tennessee Valley Authority and Cleveland Utilities."

Last year, Birmingham Steel announced it would build a $200 million melt plant in Memphis, which is expected to be completed this fall and employ about 200 people.

According to John Casey, the company's CFO, the new melt plant will use a great deal of electricity, and the TVA's low rates was one of three major factors that swung the pendulum in Memphis' favor, after looking at five other locations.

In addition, Memphis' location and pro-business attitude among local developers also made the city an attractive choice.

"From a geographical standpoint, Memphis is advantageous for its central location and also for being located on the Mississippi River," said Casey. "That's important to us because we import a lot of materials in, and export products out. Transportation costs were a factor, and Memphis was beneficial not only because of the river, but also because it has a very good rail system. Memphis was also a very easy place to work with because of the city's willingness to deal with our infrastructure requirements."

The cooperation between these research institutions and private industry encourages new innovations.

A labor force of over 45,000 geared to high tech specialties, including over 2,300 Ph.D.'s in science and engineering, help to draw companies such as Aqua Chem, Boeing, Nippondenso, and Bechtel National.

Another company recently attracted by the high tech-oriented work force is PBR Automotive, headquarterd in Melbourne, Australia.

Last year, PBR announced plans to build an $85 million, 220,000 square foot automotive brake manufacturing plant in Knoxville, which will employ 400. PBR makes brake systems for Corvettes, Pontiac Firebirds, and Ford Mustang Cobras. John MacKenzie, PBR's managing director, explained his company's choice to locate in Knoxville.

"It's central to our suppliers, is in direct road link with major customers, and has a skilled work force for manufacturing precision auto components," said MacKenzie.

Key to PBR's decision, he said, were dependable TVA power and the University of Tennessee, Oak Ridge, and Pellissippi State Technical Community College facilities to aid in training employees.

"We chose Knoxville because of its people," he said. "Clearly, (Knoxville) has the skill base necessary to ensure successful team work."

The city is a leader in publishing and printing, finance and insurance, health care services, and technology. The city has a large pool of college graduates from over 20 accredited colleges and universities and a variety of technical and training schools in the region.

One company taking advantage of Nashville's talented work force is Primus Automotive Financial Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Credit. Since establishing operations in the Nashville area in 1990, Primus has hired more than 100 employees, most of whom have two- and four-year degrees.

A lower than average cost of living, lack of personal income tax, and a high quality of life also makes Nashville a popular place for relocating upper-level employees.

R.R. Donnelley and Sons, the largest commercial printing company in the U.S. with over 35,000 employees, relocated its Shared Service Administrative Center to Nashville last year, creating about 30 new jobs.

According to Stuart Laws, controller for the new Center, "We relocated employees from all over the country, and the reaction has been extremely positive."

About 50 miles north of Nashville, near the Kentucky/Tennessee border, lies Clarksville, the state's 5th largest city.

Clarksville has ranked high recently on some well-known quality of life surveys, including Money's "Best Places to Live Now" and the Reader's Digest "Best Places to Raise a Family." Clarksville also ranked second in the small cities category of Entrepreneur's "25 Best Cities to Own a Business."

TileCera, which manufactures ceramic tile, doubled its capacity in 1996 with a $60 million expansion of their existing site, and will create 120 new jobs.