![May 20 groundbreaking at Charokee Farm Innovation Campus. May 20 groundbreaking at Charokee Farm Innovation Campus.](https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_109478/Image/MayorsOffice/Posts/Cherokee%20Farm%205.JPG)
Enthusiastic celebration at Cherokee Farm Innovation Campus this morning, as a large crowd that included Gov. Bill Haslam broke ground for a new building for Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc., the research-and-development park's first private tenant.
"Mission fulfilled!" UT President Joe DiPietro told jubilant well-wishers, adding that he's eagerly anticipating the next announcements of new buildings on the research campus.
Others referred to today's annoucement as "a milestone" and as "a game-changer."
"This is a big deal. The vision is starting to happen," Gov. Haslam said. "These are real-world jobs. ... We expect big things here."
Cherokee Farm is unique. It's the only R&D park in the Southeast that's affiliated with a major research university, the University of Tennessee, and a national research lab, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. will be occupying roughly half of a new 46,000-square-foot building, being developed by Partners Development with Blaine Construction and BarberMcMurray.
Cherokee Farm is now anchored by the 144,000-square-foot Joint Institute for Advanced Materials, a research center now partially occuiped but scheduled to come fully online mid-summer.
More details and news coverage here:
http://bit.ly/1TsdkZp
http://bit.ly/1TvijK0
http://on.wbir.com/1U4gItn
![Gov. Bill Haslam: "This is a big deal. The vision is starting to happen." Gov. Bill Haslam: "This is a big deal. The vision is starting to happen."](https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_109478/Image/MayorsOffice/Posts/Cherokee%20Farm%202.JPG)
![Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Gov. Bill Haslam Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero and Gov. Bill Haslam](https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_109478/Image/MayorsOffice/Posts/Cherokee%20Farm%201.JPG)
![Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. to occupy new 45,000-square-foot bulding here at Cherokee Farm. Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. to occupy new 45,000-square-foot bulding here at Cherokee Farm.](https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_109478/Image/MayorsOffice/Posts/Cherokee%20Farm%203.JPG)
![Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. is the first private tenant at Cherokee Farm. Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. is the first private tenant at Cherokee Farm.](https://cdnsm5-hosted.civiclive.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_109478/Image/MayorsOffice/Posts/Cherokee%20Farm%204.JPG)