Public Art Brightens Small Towns Across Tennessee Click to view this article
January 6, 2022 A Look Back on 2021 We had so many exciting things happen in 2021. It's always interesting to look back and see what the year has brought and look forward to a new year.I expect 2022 will be as fast-paced as 2021 was. We made little instagram video recapping the year- you can follow us here: https://www.instagram.com/cityofsweetwatertn/ https://www.instagram.com/sweetwatertnmainstreet/ Watch our recap video here: A Look Back at 2021 Maybe the biggest news in Sweetwater history- we have a major employer moving to Sweetwater at the Interstate. Red Stag Fulfillment has purchased the property between Exits 60 and 62. This site will host a fulfillment center and employ 3,500 at its completion. For more information, check out Red Stag's announcement: Red Stag Announcement We hosted the Knoxville Track Club Marathon in Sweetwater during a Monsoon in March! And this Guy won: It was probably the highest standing water we had all year and these runners just blasted through- Runners gonna Run! Not long after the marathon, we hosted the 2021 Blooms Bluegrass & BBQ Festival and then the Independence Day Celebration, always a great time in downtown #sweetwatertn. We always have a great parade and the City Hall staff posed with one of our founding fathers. In the fall, we dedicated the first National Fitness Campaign Outdoor Fitness Court in Tennessee! Sweetwater Hospital is the banner sponsor for the Fitness Court with their $10,000 donation! It's an awesome workout and a beautiful set up. You use your own body weight for resistance training. The National Fitness Campaign app has workouts for all fitness levels and we have several certified fitness court trainers if you need extra help. We LOVE the fitness court- hope you try it out soon! Also in October, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel for the State of TN Economic & Community Development for the International Economic Development Council, who hosted their annual conference in Nashville, TN this year. Of all the cities, Ms. Wisty Pinder could have invited, Sweetwater was stoked to be asked! We talked about creating a culture of opportunity. In particular, how Sweetwater layers opportunities in grant funding and programming to help create new entrepreneurs and support existing businesses. This was an awesome opportunity in itself and we were in awe of the other panelists- Ms. Anne Montgomery representing TN Wesleyan University, The Co, and Corner to Corner, all of whom are doing great work in Tennessee. Our fearless moderator, Wisty Pender with TN ECD always pulls together awesome resources to represent our amazing state so well. FINALLY, we got to host the 2020, er, scratch that- the 2021 AL MS TN Rural Tourism Conference. This was the largest conference in that organization's history with over 200 Tourism Professionals from Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana spending time in Sweetwater TN. We took them to the Lost Sea, America's Largest Underground Lake- https://thelostsea.com/ then brought them to beautiful Sweetwater Main Street for charcuterie by Sonya Crush and friends and private shopping hours!
We got such great feedback from these tourism friends and so many of them have already brought their families back to visit again. It was a great event and I couldn't be more proud of our business owners, employees, and officials for the teamwork it took to pull this off! We finished off the year with Small Town Christmas, an amazing Sweetwater Kiwanis Club Christmas Parade, an Ugly Sweater shopping day, the Cookie Crawl, and a Santa Rush. December was BUSY! Check it all out on that Instagram video above. Finally, Artist Cymone Wilder did this amazing Sweetwater mural downtown: All in all, 2021 was a good year. Is this toxic positivity? Maybe. I've certainly had my share of losses and sadness the past few years, which I can't ignore- it's in my face every day. But I just prefer to look to the positive- to move forward and do more good and hope the world gets a little better because of good work. As the wise Brene Brown would say: Let's look forward to 2022 and let's work to contributing more than we criticize. Hope to see you soon! Jessica
So many things happening in Sweetwater, Tennessee! Our first big event of 2021 is our annual Blooms, Bluegrass, & BBQ Festival
ABOVE: Salt & Light Studios performing a Spring routine at the 2019 Blooms, Bluegrass, & BBQ festival. We had to cancel the festival in 2020, so we are so excited to move forward this year. We can't wait to see our vendor friends and visitors who have come to our events through the years. ABOVE: Pick TN booth at the 2019 Blooms, Bluegrass, & BBQ Festival in Sweetwater, TN Vendors can still register at Sweetwater Vendor Registration We're also looking forward to the beautiful spring blooms and topiaries on our streetscapes during the festival. Our amazing Street Department puts out these topiaries every year, with the help of landscaping volunteer Hugh Myers and Main Street Volunteer Pidge Collette. We hope to see you at our festival! Just for Fun And we can't talk about Spring without talking about Ice Cream.... We are so blessed to be celebrating Sweetwater Creamery's first anniversary in downtown Sweetwater. This sweet local shop makes homemade ice cream and homemade waffle cones (oh, the delicious smells coming out of this door)... Be sure to stop by and savor a really sweet moment on the sweetest street in Tennessee. UPCOMING EVENTS: Mark your calendars: May 7-8th Blooms Bluegrass, & BBQ Festival May 13-16- Highway 11 Yard Sale May 14- East TN Camaro Club car cruise in Downtown Sweetwater May 15- Sweetwater Splash Pad Opens May 21- Sweetwater City Pool Opens June 4- First Fridays downtown June 10- Sweetwater City Election July 2- First Fridays downtown July 3- Independence Day Celebration August 6- First Fridays downtown September 3- First Fridays downtown October 1- First Fridays downtown November 5- First Fridays downtown November 27- Small Town Christmas Don't forget to follow our City of Sweetwater Tennessee Youtube and Instagram pages for more content! City of Sweetwater TN Instagram City of Sweetwater TN YouTube
Welcome to Sweetwater, Tennessee! October 8, 2020 Sweetwater is the greatest little city with the most charming shops and eateries, great people, and the best neighboring adventures to explore. We're located midway between Knoxville and Chattanooga in East Tennessee, and also serve as the midpoint between Ohio and Florida. Interstate 75 with exits at 60 and 62 keep a constant flow of tourists coming through our area. We have several hotels and air bed and breakfasts for visitors to enjoy, as well as chain and local restaurants. Sweetwater Main Street is the heart of our city's events and tourism activity. The City of Sweetwater began the journey in Economic Development strategy through Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development in 2010 by partnering with the State of Tennessee's Economic and Community Development department to pursue the TN Downtowns designation and then becoming a nationally recognized Main Street organization. Inside the Main Street district, all new businesses are eligible to apply for facade grants, entrepreneurship grants through the state, and private funding. Sweetwater's work doesn't stop at the Main Street district. We actively pursue improvements for Community Liveability efforts like bike paths and sidewalks, parks and recreation facilities, and community policing initiatives. We maintain a low tax base by pursuing grant funding for many of these capital projects. You will find our community kind, grounded, and filled with people who value hard work and good citizenship. In 2020, we have set two all-time sales tax records and opened 16 new businesses. We also provided grants to our hotels and restaurants most affected by the pandemic through a partnership with East Tennessee Foundation and the city's tourism fund. People are certainly taking notice and choosing to settle in our area. One of the challenges our community faces is a limited availability of housing- they're building as fast as they can, but many builders are a year out for starting new projects. Our goal is to balance welcoming newcomers and maintaining the charm and low cost of living that drove them here. Every community has challenges, but there is a hopeful attitude in Sweetwater that the best is yet to come. Our team at City Hall is excited about what the future holds and have the backing of our elected officials to investigate new ideas and infuse our community with new programming to build the kind of city that our kids will be proud to raise their families here some day. What a wonderful difference the right team of people makes!
We're blessed with strong leadership and their tendency to "say yes"! Collectively our elected officials and department heads believe that the Rising Tide Floats All Boats, and working together makes us all stronger. We spent a decade building our fund balance, making wise financial decisions, and committing to capital planning, so that we have the flexibility to branch out in our vision. We are choosing to be brave with choices and creating an environment in local government that encourages critical thinking and efficiency, while still allowing the opportunity to take risks in trying things like dreaming big in applying for projects and grants that we may not receive. We hope that in representing Sweetwater on social media, at conferences, and in the media, we can show America what Small Town Living really looks like and how valuable a slower pace of life, focusing on the simple joys of life. It's a privilege to serve our community. We're excited to see how Sweetwater shines in this new decade.