Nashville is used to being on primetime television, but not in the way announced on Wednesday.

CNBC will air an hourlong nationwide special about Nashville to kick off its new “Cities of Success” series, intended to “highlight the entrepreneurial spirit that has attracted capital, companies and employees.” The cable business news network selected Nashville and other cities based on the growth of their population and personal income, low unemployment rate, GDP growth over an 11-year span and the rise in home prices since 2022.

CNBC host Carl Quintanilla will anchor the show, featuring interviews with:

• Former Tennessee Govs. Bill Haslam and Phil Bredesen, both of whom have major business investments in Nashville.
• Country music icon Garth Brooks
• Holly Sullivan, who grew up in the area and led the site search for Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) that resulted in its 5,000-job downtown office hub. Sullivan, whose title is vice president of worldwide economic development, made that historic jobs announcement five years ago this month. Nashville Business Journal

The United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford Motor Co. came to a tentative agreement last week, and the details of the new labor deal were released by the union on Sunday night.

The deal brings billions in new plant investments to ensure job security; 25% compounded wage increases; improved profit sharing; and a $5,000 ratification bonus for the 57,000 UAW-Ford members nationwide.

The deal also gives an idea to what wages could look like at West Tennessee’s BlueOval City, and who will fill those jobs. The Tennessee Electric Vehicle Center (TEVC), the side of the plant owned and operated by Ford, is mentioned in the tentative agreement.

Ford’s side of BlueOval City has not started hiring and is, therefore, unable to be recognized in a UAW-Ford labor agreement. However, per the new deal, an agreement has been made so that some workers will have the opportunity to transfer to the TEVC prior to a vote. Memphis Business Journal

United Automobile Workers’ strike has reached Spring Hill.

The union announced Saturday evening that it had ordered its workers to walk out of its Spring Hill General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) assembly plant south of Nashville.

“As of 5pm Central Standard Time, UAW Local 1853 is on strike,” the group said in a Facebook post.

GM has nearly 4,000 employees at the Middle Tennessee facility, according to The Detroit News. Employees at the Spring Hill plant make the Cadillac XT5 and XT6 SUVs, the all-electric Cadillac Lyriq and the GMC Acadia.

The walkout comes shortly after UAW announced a tentative deal with Stellantis NV (NYSE: STLA), the maker of brands such as Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler, and days after the organization reached a tentative agreement with Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F). Nashville Business Journal

One of the Nashville area’s top-ranked business consulting firms is expanding its services to Kentucky.

Brentwood-based LBMC, a business consulting and financial services firm, will welcome Louisville-based accounting firm Strothman & Co under its family of companies. This move, effective Nov. 1, will increase the number of LBMC employees to more than 850.

It also marks the firm’s fifth office location in the South. LBMC is already Tennessee’s largest CPA firm, and was recently named a 2023 best tax and accounting firm by Forbes. The Tennessean

A local company looks to expand its Memphis footprint with a new facility on Lamar Avenue.

CRDN of the Mid-South is seeking a 10-year Fast Track PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-taxes) from the Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) for Memphis & Shelby County in order to support a move to 3495 Lamar Ave.

CRDN’s new facility, currently an empty industrial property, is to be purchased for just over $3 million, with CRDN planning to spend $1 million on property improvements. The tax benefit over the 10-year period is estimated at $1.05 million, but the expansion is projected to create a $1.86 million tax benefit. Memphis Business Journal