Business View Magazine | March 2020

319 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MARCH 2020 downtown redevelopment zone, so I think the biggest opportunity for us is that our airport is in the OZ. We put close to $10 million into our airport in the last five years, including an improved runway and some access roads. So, I think the OZ is a real tool that we’re going to use as the airport continues to develop.” Another project on the town’s agenda is an upgrade to all its traffic signals. “Our Board of Aldermen approved a comprehensive signalization project for all of our traffic signals in town, which will be converted to a smart signal system,” Smith reveals. “It’s a critical issue that’s developed over the last 30 years. The signals are just a mish-mash. So, we’re The lights of Greeneville’s Main Street. in the design phase of getting a technology that’s going to fix it for us. It’s a year-and-a-half project.” On the sustainable front, Smith notes that the town’s police department is moving quickly to replace all of its gasoline vehicles with ones that run on propane. “We’ve got a plan to get them all converted in the next six to nine months,” he says. “It’s been very good for us; it saves us money, and it’s a cleaner-running fuel, as well. So, it’s been a very successful program and we’re very proud of it.” Smith admits that growth in Greeneville has been very slow– a mere one percent, or so, per GREENEV I LLE , TENNESSEE