CLEVELAND, Tenn. — With two major German investments in the area, Christian Höferle saw the opportunity to start a consulting company to help smooth transitions for the incoming European work force.

“There are going to be jobs, of course, for everybody, but there are going to be Germans moving here,” said the 38-year-old Germany native who started Höferle Consulting earlier this year.

“There’s going to be an influx of a new culture, not only the Germans, but people from other nationalities that will work with these companies, so we’ll have a much broader diversity than people are used to here,” he added.

There are close to 700 foreign-based businesses operating in Tennessee, according to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The most recent additions are German-based Volkswagen, which is building an auto assembly plant in Chattanooga, and Wacker Chemical, which is building a plant in Bradley County.

Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland said he has consulted Mr. Höferle on many issues regarding the Munich-based Wacker’s $1 billion polysilicon plant.

“I consulted with Christian about a greeting to give the officials and, if it hadn’t been for him, I would have mispronounced every word that I looked up in German,” said Mr. Rowland. “I felt good because the Germans said it was perfect.”

It’s important to have companies or organizations like Höferle Consulting to help better understand other cultures, Mr. Rowland said

“First of all, we need to make them welcome, include them in our community. But we also need to understand their culture as we try to share ours with them,” he said.

Mr. Höferle has lived in Cleveland with his wife for almost five years.

He said he’s been told that when BMW moved into the Greenville-Spartanburg area in South Carolina in 1992, expectations were not always met.

“Because the Americans where expecting something else and the Germans where expecting something else, it took them months and even years to figure out where the common ground was and that’s valuable time lost for businesses, for communities,” he said. “I think it’s necessary to prepare both sides on what’s going to happen.”

Last month, he incorporated a blog called Southeast Schnitzel to his business

The name, he said, comes from a boneless cutlet, a well-known German dish. The blog highlights certain differences and similarities of the American way of life and German culture.

“I’m not saying I need to translate what everybody says because the Germans who come here will speak English sufficiently to make it through the day, but it’s what’s lost in translation, what’s in between the lines and the connotations of words (that can cause trouble),” he said.