East Tennessee

=== Business and industry ===
Major companies and businesses headquartered in East Tennessee include [[Pilot Flying J]], the Baptist Hospital system, [[Regal Cinemas]] in Knoxville, and [[BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee]], U.S. Xpress, [[Covenant Transport]], and [[Unum]] in Chattanooga, and Eastman Chemical in Kingsport.

A variety of goods are manufactured in East Tennessee, including chemicals, foods and drinks, automotive components, and electronics. The largest manufacturer in the region is [[Eastman Chemical]] in Kingsport, with more than 10,000 employees, and other chemical companies operate several other chemical manufacturing facilities in the region. [[Volkswagen]] operates an [[Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant|assembly plant]] in Chattanooga, and several automotive parts manufacturers, including [[Denso]], operate plants in East Tennessee. [[Coca-Cola]] was first produced in Chattanooga in 1899, and many well-known food and drink brands originated and are made in East Tennessee, including [[Mayfield Dairy]] products, [[Moon Pie]], [[McKee Foods#Little Debbie|Little Debbie]], [[Mountain Dew]], [[Bush's Beans]], and [[M&M's]]. The region has emerged in recent years as one of the top locations for the legal production of [[moonshine]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Guttman |first=Amy |title=Moonshine As Moneymaker? Eastern Tennessee Will Drink To That |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/06/27/196218491/moonshine-as-moneymaker-eastern-tennessee-will-drink-to-that |work=NPR |location=Washington, D.C. |date=June 27, 2013 |access-date=June 6, 2021}}</ref> East Tennessee is a top location where boats are manufactured, with companies such as [[Sea Ray]], [[MasterCraft]], and [[Malibu Boats]], operating facilities in the region.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gaines |first=Jim|date=May 30, 2019|title=Tennessee boat industry thriving as buyers seek sport and luxury|url=https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2019/05/27/tennessee-boat-business-growing-watersports-luxury-leading-way/1206684001/|work=Knoxville News Sentinel|access-date=June 6, 2021}}</ref> Other important products produced in East Tennessee include [[consumer electronics]], electrical equipment, and fabricated metal products.

[[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]] (ORNL) and [[Y-12 National Security Complex]] in Oak Ridge are two of the largest employers in East Tennessee. ORNL conducts scientific research in [[materials science]], [[nuclear physics]], energy, [[supercomputer|high-performance computing]], [[systems biology]], and [[National security of the United States|national security]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Solving Big Problems |url=https://www.ornl.gov/sites/default/files/solving_big_problems_130514.pdf |publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory |access-date=May 28, 2021 |date=June 2013}}</ref> and is also the largest [[United States Department of Energy national laboratories|national laboratory]] in the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] (DOE) system by size, and has the third highest budget.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2019/03/f60/doe-fy2020-laboratory-table.pdf |title=Department of Energy FY 2020 Congressional Budget Request |date=March 2019 |publisher=Department of Energy |access-date=September 30, 2020}}</ref> Both ORNL and Y-12 also support many jobs through contracting firms in the area. Since the 1990s, the geographical area between Oak Ridge and Knoxville has been known as the Tennessee Technology Corridor, with more than 500 high-tech firms located in the region.<ref name="sherman">{{cite web |last1=Sherman |first1=Erik |title=Tennessee's Tech Corridor |url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2596132/tennessee-s-tech-corridor.html |website=[[Computerworld]] |access-date=May 27, 2021 |date=July 27, 2000}}</ref> With the expanded smart grid in Chattanooga, and the fastest internet in the Western Hemisphere,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chattanoogagig.com/|title=Chattanooga Gig: Your Gig is Here.|website=chattanoogagig.com}}</ref> Chattanooga has begun to grow its technical and financial sectors with its burgeoning start-up scene.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/04/technology/fast-internet-service-speeds-business-development-in-chattanooga.html|title=Fast Internet Is Chattanooga's New Locomotive|first=Edward|last=Wyatt|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 3, 2014}}</ref> 

The town of [[Erwin, Tennessee|Erwin]], located in the Tri-Cities area, is home to [[Nuclear Fuel Services]], which operates a manufacturing and [[uranium enrichment]] facility converting [[Cold War]]-era weapons uranium into commercially usable reactor fuel for power plants around the United States, and is the largest supplier of uranium fuel for the [[United States Navy]] since 1960.<ref name="mansfield">{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/worldlatest/story/0,,-6863800,00.html| title=Tenn. Nuclear Fuel Problems Kept Secret| date=August 20, 2007| first=Duncan| last=Mansfield| accessdate=2007-08-21 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071030125346/http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6863800,00.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-10-30| location=London| work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref name="campbell">{{cite web |last1=Campbell |first1=Paige |title=Nuclear Confusion |url=https://appvoices.org/2012/02/21/nuclear-confusion/ |website=The Appalachian Voice |access-date=January 19, 2022 |date=February 21, 2012}}</ref>