Cheatham County business leaders today announced a four-year, $1.5 million economic, business and workforce development plan for the county that includes recruiting or significantly growing at least two sizable employment opportunities, creating 200 new jobs, and "reducing Cheatham County's retail leakage rate of 70 percent to 60 percent over the next four years," among other goals.

To read the full announcement about Cheatham Vision, click here.

In this week's City Paper, William Williams sits down with Matt Wiltshire, who last week started his new job as director of the Mayor's Office of Economic and Community Development. He becomes the third person to hold the important job since the last days of 2007 and a number of people say it's vital he stick around for a good while.

Tim Roach, deputy executive director for research, planning and development for the Greater Nashville Regional Council, said longevity in the position would be important.

“However, what is really important is that the leader of the ECD office be someone that shares the mayor’s vision, especially through an election cycle, and keeps projects moving,” Roach said. “The longer [Wiltshire is] in the position, the more [he] can learn how to effectively work within the Metro political system and business community.”

Nissan North America has begun installing 30 solar-assisted charging stations at its Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant and the company's headquarters in Franklin.

The chargers, which will be operational by July 1, are the latest in the company's string of local investments. Read more about it here.

Hemlock Semiconductor's $1.2 billion Clarksville plant is still more than a year from opening, but the company has entered into talks with state officials about growing the site with an investment that would more than triple its polycrystalline silicon operation. The AP's Erik Schelzig has the story.

SEE ALSO: An update on the current construction work, which now has some 1,600 people on site

Rutherford County economic development officials today unveiled the status of their latest fundraising campaign, which aims to raise $4 million and bring 5,000 jobs to the county by 2015. That's a quarter more than the previous campaign launched in 2007. Pinnacle Financial Partners executive Bill Jones is chairing this third iteration of Destination Rutherford, which already has $2.5 million of its goal in the bag.

"Thousands of new direct and indirect jobs have been created and the economic impact of those new jobs and the capital investments made in Rutherford County contribute significantly to the economic health of our county. As we move past the most difficult economic climate in most of our lifetimes, we stand to capitalize on Destination Rutherford's efforts over the past eight years and to realize even more significant success over the next five years."