KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – 2009 was a year of ups and downs on the Tennessee business landscape. On one hand, the state was able to lure more companies by offering tax breaks. On the other hand the state unemployment rate hit 10.8 percent during the summer, which marked the highest it had been in decades.

One of the most important business announcement s of the year came on February 26th when Wacker Chemie AG announced it would build a $1 billion plant in the Charleston community of Bradley County.

Wacker Chemie AG is a German chemical company known as one of the world’s top producers of silicone products. The solar power industry is considered one of its biggest customers.

The company plans to hire around 600 employees for the East Tennessee plant, which is slated to open in 2012.

More than anything, the best nickname for 2009 in the Volunteer State may be “The Year of the Automobile.”

General Motors officially closed its Spring Hill plant on November 26th. The plant originally opened in the early 1990s to build the automaker’s Saturn line of vehicles. GM retooled the plant in 2007 so that it could produce virtually any vehicle built on the company’s “Lambda platform.” The upgrade turned Spring Hill into arguably the company’s most versatile plant, and it was used specifically to build the 2009 Chevrolet Traverse.

Critics of GM have alleged the company chose to close Spring Hill based purely on politics. The automaker was forced to take a loan from the US Government in 2009, forcing it into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Tennessee’s Senate delegation was very skeptical of bailing out the troubled automaker and publicly opposed the government stepping in to take over ownership. The announcement to shutter the plant was made while GM was reorganizing during bankruptcy.

Production of the Traverse was moved to a GM plant in Michigan, a state whose senate delegation lobbied for federal loans to save the automaker. Spring Hill later lost out on getting to produce another Chevy vehicle in spite of Governor Phil Bredesen’s promise of millions in economic incentives.

Rumors of the plant being used to produce a smaller version of the Cadillac Escalade surfaced over the last several months Spring Hill was open, but so far have not become reality. Around 1,400 employees lost their jobs when the plant closed, though roughly half of them applied for jobs at other GM plants around the nation.

Other news related to the state’s auto industry was as bad.

Volkswagen announced it would build a $1 billion dollar plant in East Tennessee during the summer of 2008. Construction has progressed quickly and the German automaker began taking applications for 2,000 jobs in Fall 2009. About 1,200 of them will be assembly line jobs while the remaining 800 will be for people willing to operate tools and equipment.

The plant will be located in the Enterprise South Industrial Park in Hamilton County, along Interstate 75 in Hamilton County. It is slated to open in 2011 with the first sedan designed specifically for the U.S. auto market slated to roll off the assembly line in 2012.

Finally in October 2009, it was announced that the Volunteer State would be one of only a handful in the nation to help Nissan’s new all electric car.

Nissan’s U.S. operations are based in Franklin.

The Nissan Leaf is an emission free five seat compact car powered by lithium batteries. It will be able to travel about 100 miles on a single charge.
The Leaf will debut in East Tennessee on January 16th.

What do you feel are the top Tennessee business stories of 2009? You can leave your opinion in the comments section below.