February 7, 2023
After more than four decades on the same property, Chattanooga Tent & Event Solutions, Chattanooga, Tenn., entered 2023 in a brand-new location. The new facility nearly doubles the square footage the company worked from previously and positions it geographically to better serve its customers across southeastern Tennessee and parts of northern Alabama and Georgia.
Mike Holland, CERP, Chattanooga Tent & Event Solutions president, who also serves as treasurer for the ARA of Tennessee, says that beyond the space advantages — the company has moved from a total of 46,000 sq. ft. between two locations to 77,000 sq. ft. under one roof on nearly 6 acres — the move will produce a better experience for customers and employees alike.
For customers, it was a matter of clarity and eliminating confusion that can come with having two separate facilities. “Our customers will not be confused now; they will be able to come to one place. Sometimes our website stated one address and they would show up to the other,” Holland says.
On the staff side, the new location is expected to deliver greater efficiency and camaraderie. “We did not like the fact that we were in two separate buildings. There was some overcrowding at both, a lot of equipment was outside and the synergies that would go with all of us being together in one building were not there [prior to the move]. For example, we won’t have to run from one warehouse to the other to do RFID tagging now. Also, when everybody is under one roof it will feel more like one team. Our division that was in our smaller building kind of felt separate and didn’t feel, despite our best efforts, as if they were part of the main team. I think this move will help that,” Holland says.
Chattanooga Tent & Event Solutions has provided a variety of event services to the local market since its establishment in 1934 by brothers Joe and Garvin Nolan. In 1976, the company moved into a mid-town space adjacent to the University of Chattanooga. Chattanooga Tent & Event Solutions and the university have both grown over the decades, and Chattanooga Tent & Event Solutions’ new move will give each entity the breathing room needed to serve their audiences for years to come.
“We are closer to main highways than when we were downtown,” Holland says. “We are still in the city of Chattanooga, but now we can go north to I-75 or south and east down to I-24 and I-59 much easier than before. And the university that is buying our old building is right across the street and has intramural grounds and soccer fields where the band practices, so it was natural.”
As his company presses forward in the new location, Holland says he is pleased to take possession of and greatly improve on the property that once
belonged to a hometown manufacturing brand.
“Our new location at 1200 Wisdom St. was built as Chattanooga Wheelbarrow in 1960. It made wheelbarrows probably until the ’70s or ’80s. So, we are proud of the fact that it was a Chattanooga company,” Holland says.
