Byline: Roger Harris
Aug. 11--Knoxville physician staffing company Team Health Inc. plans to build a $2.5 million computer data center in the Pellissippi Corporate Center.
The Development Corporation of Knox County approved Thursday the sale of 2.53 acres in the West Knox County business park to Team Health for $145,000 per acre.
Team Health plans to consolidate functions of existing data centers in Knoxville and Florida into the new center, which could be completed by April 2007, Richard McDaniel, the company's vice president of administration, said Thursday.
'We are expanding the IT platform to position the company for future growth,' McDaniel said.
The company will continue to operate a Florida data center, although some of the Florida center's programs will be moved to Knoxville, McDaniel said.
In addition to relocating current employees, 12 to 15 new jobs will be created over time at the new West Knox County data center, McDaniel said.
The jobs are the high-wage positions -- averaging more than $100,000 a year in salary and benefits -- the Development Corp. tries to attract to the business parks it manages, said Todd Napier, director of development for the Development Corp.
Team Health is buying a triangular-shaped parcel near the park entrance at the intersection of Hardin Valley Road and Cherahala Boulevard. The park is just east of the intersection of Pellissippi Parkway and Hardin Valley.
Team Health provides medical staffing, management and support services for 510 hospitals and their affiliated clinics and surgical and imaging centers in 44 states and Puerto Rico, according to the company's Web site.
In an unrelated matter Thursday, the Development Corp. authorized application for a state grant to pay for a storm water drainage system to serve Kentucky Steel Center Inc., which is building a plant in Eastbridge Business Park in East Knox County.
The Development Corp. plans to apply for a state Fast Track Infrastructure Development Grant of up to $66,000. The total cost of the drainage project is about $100,000. Kentucky Steel and the Development Corp. will provide the balance of the funding, Napier said.
Kentucky Steel, which does business in Knoxville as Tennessee Steel, supplies steel coils and slit steel to the Exedy America Corp. plant in Eastbridge. Exedy makes torque converters for the automotive industry.
Earlier this year, the Development Corp. sold 11.5 acres in Eastbridge to Kentucky Steel, which is building a $5 million facility.
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