Christensen chooses Tennessee

Canada?s Christensen Yachts Ltd., which builds yachts, has chosen Tennessee as the site of a new shipyard. CYL will build yachts costing as much as $50 million each at a new $20 million facility on the shore of Tellico Reservoir southwest of Knoxville.

Upon completion, the yachts will be sailed on a weeklong journey from the Tellico Reservoir, through a series of locks on the Tennessee River, along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, then on to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Construction on the Christensen facility is to start this year and be completed in two years. The plant initially will have 500 employees but that number could double in six years.