Here are the numbers: The American Diabetes Association reports that nearly 21 million Americans have diabetes, with another 54 million suffering from a condition known as “pre-diabetes.” Meanwhile, the American Heart Association has reported that more than a third of the U.S. population suffers from some form of cardiovascular disease. A common co-factor with diabetes is high blood pressure, which now afflicts nearly 62 million Americans.

Here’s the science: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researcher Dr. Richard Anderson recently published a study showing that the common everyday spice cinnamon lowered blood pressure in hypertensive rats. Anderson’s findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, piggyback on previous studies he conducted revealing that cinnamon helps maintain favorable blood glucose levels and reduces serum cholesterol in diabetics. In a nutshell, cinnamon causes the body to absorb nutrients better, which in turn makes insulin more efficient. As such, not only has cinnamon proven to be potentially beneficial to diabetics but also (listen up dieters) to reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass as a result of the body using insulin more effectively.

Now, here’s the Tennessee connection: Anderson’s discoveries are exciting news for one of Maury County’s newest companies, Integrity Nutraceuticals. A supplier of bulk nutritional products specializing in custom formulas, Integrity in 2002 hatched a research agreement with Anderson and the USDA to commercialize a cinnamon extract. As a result, Integrity is the company behind Cunnulin PF, the only water-soluble cinnamon extract ingredient standardized in the United States. Integrity’s brand partners include Texas-based beverage maker Sweet Success, the first company to employ a water-soluble cinnamon extract safe for daily use in a liquid format that targets diabetics.

DIVINE INTERVENTION
Integrity co-founder Tim Romero started the business in his garage in Sarasota, Fla., in 1999. The company currently occupies a 15,000-square-foot building in that city. But growth has made it clear to Romero that the company needs double or more that amount of space. One look at the current cost per square foot to accommodate such growth in Sarasota was all the data Romero needed to be persuaded to search other states for a better location. Skyrocketing insurance costs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina provided even more impetus.

As is often the case in corporate relocations, Middle Tennessee first caught Romero’s eye because one of Integrity’s main customers had recently opened a distribution center near Nashville and was experiencing positive results stemming from the move.

“That got us looking,” Romero says. “They kind of opened the door, and once we began to investigate we were like, ‘Wow, this really makes sense.’ We began seeing the business-friendly atmosphere that Tennessee has to offer, particularly Middle Tennessee, and specifically Spring Hill. That’s why we chose Spring Hill over some of the other areas we were looking at, which became every direction northeast and southwest of Nashville.”

Middle Tennessee’s status as the so-called buckle of the Bible belt and a hotbed for Christian book publishing, music publishing and other types of Christian enterprise also appealed to Romero, a businessman who openly professes his Christian faith.

“Our primary focus, our primary thing, is to glorify God in what we do,” Romero says. “We’re a Christian-based company. Hence, our corporation’s name is FHG Corp., which stands for “For His Glory.”

A NUTRIENT STREAM
Integrity’s new 39,000-square-foot research and distribution facility is currently under construction in the Parkway Business Center in Spring Hill (a $3.5 million capital investment). The company relocates this July. Initially, it will employ 25 people but has plans to grow soon to 40.

Frank Tamberrino, president of the Maury County Alliance, the chamber of commerce and economic development center for Maury County, home to Spring Hill, says the research-related, white collar, analytical jobs that Integrity brings are “just the type of jobs everybody in the state would be envious of, and they are.”

Tamberrino, who actually came to Maury County from Sarasota himself in 2000, says Integrity’s decision to relocate there “makes the statement that Maury County is ready to play in that league of office and research-based jobs, in addition to the manufacturing base.”

Future growth at Integrity could derive from other nutrients the company is now testing and commercializing. According to Romero, the company is currently working with trineuroplex, a natural mood-enhancing product derived from the rare and expensive spice saffron, which he says has been shown to have significant antidepressant qualities.

Should that growth in size and scope materialize, Tennessee will be the beneficiary. And the business-friendly environment of Spring Hill, America’s 14th fastest-growing city according to the latest U.S. census, will have played a key role. At a time when auto giant GM is temporarily idling the Maury County-based Saturn plant, and hundreds of associated local auto suppliers have followed suit, that’s good news for Spring Hill.