Johnson County Tilapia Project

The Johnson County Vocational school has maintained a state-of-the-art tilapia production demonstration project on the campus of Johnson County High School for several years. The facility is managed by Kenneth McQueen and Harvey Burniston, Jr., who are experts in the field of aquaculture. In January of 2000, Dr. Jerry Leger, Director of Planning for ETSU’s Keystone Community Partnership Center, and Tom Anderson approached Kenneth and Harvey and School Superintendent Gerald Buckles about the possibility of taking the tilapia project commercial. The school personnel wanted the ability to process (i.e., filet) the fish for local consumption. Because of their interest, Leger and Anderson wrote a grant proposal under the auspices of the Community Development Corporation of Northeast Tennessee that included funding for a tilapia processing center. This three (3) year grant, written for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Rural Housing and Economic Development program, was funded in the amount of $498,150 and commenced on October 1, 2000. The grant contains $100,000 for a tilapia filleting facility as well as $125,000 in loan loss reserve funds for small businesses. The grant also contains funding for personnel to assist in the marketing of tilapia as well as assist in the start-up of tilapia related businesses.

Before the HUD grant was written, Kenneth McQueen and Harvey Burniston, Jr., had already had discussions with Joe Savery about using excess heat from Mr. Savery’s lumber drying kilns to heat water to the temperature required to raise tilapia (84°F). Because of the funding of the HUD grant, renewed interest in establishing a commercial tilapia operation was generated. A steering committee of Johnson Countians seeking to establish a commercial level tilapia production and processing facility for Johnson County was formed. This group includes: Mr. Joe Savery, President, Mountain City Hardwoods, Inc.; the Honorable Harvey Burniston, Sr., Mayor, City of Mountain City; the Honorable Curtis Sluder, County Executive of Johnson County; Kenneth McQueen and Harvey Burniston, Jr., from the Johnson County Vocational School; and Jerry Leger and Tom Anderson of ETSU’s Keystone Community Partnership Center. The purpose of this committee is to identify funding sources for establishing a commercial scale tilapia operation.

For more information, contact Tom Anderson
at (423) 727-1250 or via e-mail.