Left to right: Sunbright Mayor Karen Melton, MTAS Management Consultant Warren Nevad
, JBG CEO Gary Hunt, Highland Telephone Cooperative CEO Mark Patterson, and Morgan County Mayor Brian Langley
The Tennessee Renewable Energy & Economic Development Council (TREEDC) President/Dunlap Mayor Dwain Land, University of Tennessee MTAS/TREEDC Director Warren Nevad and Chief Operating Officer of Just Be Green (JBG) Villages of America Gary Hunt recently announced a strategic marketing and educational alliance for a planned future state of the art sustainable mixed used green community village in Morgan County, Tennessee.
JBG Villages was granted a special development area with the passage of House Bill 2116 by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2018. This visionary legislation was sponsored by Senator Ken Yager and Representative John Mark Windle and signed by then Governor Bill Haslam. As a result, the law authorizes Morgan County officials to establish a special developmental area to create jobs and economic growth with a minimum development area of 2,000 acres designated for sustainable living and economic development. JBG Villages will build a mixed use development village that includes global green labs, environmentally sensitive housing, green academy, and Veterans’ health services along with sustainable agriculture and aquaculture technologies.
JBG Villages of America desires to develop the largest greenhouse in the world along with an aquaponics park. Hunt also announced that JBG Villages of America is excited to develop the first agro village and smart tech community that will be built from the ground up. The technology – driven community development will blend the beauty and splendor of Sunbright and Morgan County’s natural resources with state of the art green technology for economic development. TREEDC President Dwain Land believes that this development will be a worldwide educational showcase of mixed used green development blending with the environment.
TREEDC (www.treedc.us) is a statewide network of 108 Tennessee mayors that was founded by the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service in 2008 along with 4 rural Tennessee mayors. Former UT President Dr. Joe Johnson is the founding Chairman of TREEDC. Today, the Chairman of TREEDC is Dr. Keith Carver, Chancellor of University of Tennessee Martin. The mission of TREEDC is to promote and connect renewable energy with economic development. More information about Just Be Green Villages of America can be found here: