KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A new business is putting down roots in Knox County as hydroelectric equipment manufacturer NuSTREEM held a grand opening ceremony on Wednesday.
“This is a small turbine generator that produces clean, efficient energy from water,” said Tim Ramsey, senior vice president of Mesa Associates.
Connecticut-based NuSTREEM’s assets were recently acquired by Mesa Associates, a management company based in Knoxville for more than 20 years, and relocated to Knox County.
“We outsource the manufacturing to our sister company, Mesa Technologies, and we do all the engineering in-house,” Ramsey said.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs believes Knox County was a good fit for a few reasons.
“We have TVA here, and they do a lot of work with utilities across the country. They work with 12 of the 15 largest utilities in the country, TVA being one of them,” Jacobs said. “Also, we’re attracted by our geographic proximity to the population centers on the East Coast, and the innovation environment and technology environment that we have here.”
Jacobs said the venture could also be a boon for local businesses that could supply needed parts for the turbines.
“They need vendors to buy parts from, from the actual machinery of the parts that go into the turbines to powder coating, painting and all that stuff,” he said. “What they want to do here is get a local vendor to do it.”
“We expect the business to grow. There’s room to expand, which we’re very excited about,” Ramsay said. “Then we’ll utilize a number of other suppliers and vendors in the space to supply parts and subassemblies.”
