Email: cwalker@networkstn.com
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A Failure to Plan is a Plan to Fail

The NETWORKS Strategic Planning Session Shone the Light on a Great Deal of Progress and Revealed a Renewed Commitment to Regionalism

One of my mentors from my days at Murray State University, former basketball coach Steve Newton, was a master of clichés. One of his and my favorites was, “Plan your work; work your plan.”

From the outside, economic development probably looks like a relatively unplanned exercise. Many people see it as a reactive process or simply that those involved – from the practitioner to the elected officials – as a bunch of people clamoring to take credit for something that was going to happen regardless. Truth be told, some of that does exist in our world. So much so that there is a saying: If it flies, shoot it; if it falls to the ground, claim it. I mean, there must be something to it if there’s a saying, right?

By and large, however, economic development success doesn’t just happen. Much of the reason for success in all aspects of economic development is a commitment to it. Even if an EDO misses the mark on its targeted industry sectors, branding message, incentive policies, land development, and every other aspect of preparation, the fact that economic development is a priority can lead to success.

We have taken economic development very seriously in Northeast Tennessee for a very long time, particularly here in Sullivan County (as well as in Hawkins County, with whom we market and recruit). The formation and structure of NETWORKS Sullivan Partnership and its investment in industrial properties demonstrate our commitment. This commitment continues as our investors continue to develop properties and to create and support initiatives that support our brand of Where Tennessee Begins Its Business Day!

This prioritization of economic and community development was evident very early into our strategic planning meeting as we reviewed our 2018 session and the major areas of focus to which we agreed at that time.

· Product development – In 2019, we received TNECD’s first high-impact site development grant in the amount of $1 million to develop a 35-acre rail-served site in Partnership Park II in Bristol. (It deserves mentioning that other NETWORKS properties along with partner-owned properties such as BTES’s Bristol Business Park, Tri-Cities Airport’s Aerospace Park, and Phipps Bend Industrial Park have received grants of up to $500,000 with our team being a part of the application and presentation process.) This grant required our partners to commit another $4 million, which they did. They also decided to commit another $4 million to future land development on the western end of Sullivan County. We have a contractor selected and are ready to break ground in Partnership Park II and have identified a handful of sites and our working through details of ownership structure and prioritization with the City of Kingsport as well. Additionally, we have had discussions with private developers regarding going vertical with spec buildings in a public-private partnership.

· Workforce development – While we were slowed somewhat in this area when our Chairman, Dr. Jeff McCord, left Northeast State Community College to accept the role of Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development for Governor Lee, we have since seen that committee be perhaps our most engaged. Dr. Sam Rowell of NESCC agreed to chair and Abby Mease, who was promoted to Workforce Development and Special Projects Coordinator, has spearheaded the group that includes our three school systems’ CTE directors, HR professionals, and other workforce development partners. We have also worked with the Department of Labor to assist our industries in recruiting personnel from Fort Campbell Army Base. We are developing a website portal – with the help of a $50,000 grant from TNECD – that will assist businesses and industry in finding the appropriate training and education contacts and attracting employees; it will also provide our citizens guidance in locating available jobs, an overview of the types of jobs in our area, and what training (and where to get it) these positions require.

· Regional economic development – While many organizations and groups throughout the region continue to search for the optimal solution for Northeast Tennessee, NETWORKS remains engaged with many of them and other EDOs, most notably NeTREP and the Greene County Partnership, and committed to continue with and expand our regional approach, particularly in marketing and recruitment, existing industry services, and workforce development. In fact, at the Board’s direction, I authored a bit of a road map or white paper in an effort to move the collaborative process along, titled “The Right Time for the Right Organization.” We have invited other EDOs in our Grand Division to participate in our signature marketing event, the Northeast Tennessee Red Carpet Tour, have weekly online meetings with NeTREP Vice President Alicia Summers, and search for new avenues for collaboration. I have continued my work in having a strong presence on Team Tennessee, with seats on the Tennessee Economic Development Council (TEDC) and the Tennessee Economic Partnership (TEP) boards of directors.

After taking that look back, we shifted our sites to what might be ahead. In most cases, we agreed to continue in the direction we are heading, with some small adjustments. A change in approach was more dramatic on the subject of regionalism where the Board agreed on two significant main points:

1. While we do a pretty good job in taking a regional approach, particularly in how we market, a more formal means for regional initiatives are needed.

2. Because many passionate people have been working at this for the past few years and a lot of water has gone under the bridge, it is best that our Board wipes the slate clean. The term “reset” seemed to become the word of the day.

Of our various approaches to economic development, regionalism continues to be the topic that seems to get the lion’s share of media attention, I suppose, for good reason. It is of great importance and, frankly, an area that has traditionally offered a great deal of room for improvement. It is a shame that the other work going on throughout our region’s eight counties is often minimalized or even ignored altogether because it is some really good stuff. However, the regional effort could actually help not only ultimately shine a spotlight on these initiatives but could scale them in a way to reach some of our more rural pockets as well.

Another thing Coach Newton liked to say was, “Take a stumbling block and turn it into a stepping stone.” With the most recent conversations of which I have been a part and the overall position of our own Board of Directors, I am more optimistic than ever that Northeast Tennessee might be moving towards finding the right vehicle for a more regional approach to key aspects of economic development. I think that areas where NETWORKS doesn’t spend as much if any time – tourism, talent attraction, retail, entrepreneurship – as well as our more “traditional” economic development focus of primary job growth and investment, stand to benefit exponentially when we find our way as a unified region.

Here is hoping that we all soon agree on a plan forward. Then we can truly get to work on it for the benefit of the corporate and private citizens of Northeast Tennessee.

Following up on the Strategic Planning Session held in 2018, the NETWORKS Sullivan Partnership Board and partners met on March 24th to discuss what has been accomplished in the past few years and create goals and the path forward for the County and Northeast Tennessee.

With more than 40 years of combined leadership and service to Speedway Motorsports, today, two industry veterans received promotions as Mike Burch was named the company’s chief operating officer, while Jerry Caldwell was promoted to president of Bristol Motor Speedway. The promotions were announced by Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith.

“Mike Burch and Jerry Caldwell are dedicated leaders who search every day for innovative ways we can serve our fans, partners, and employees,” said Smith. “We are proud to have Mike and Jerry on our executive leadership team and thankful not only for their past successes but for their continued hard work to elevate the profile and performance of Speedway Motorsports.”

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More than 150 people packed into the new Tennessee College of Applied Technology Elizabethton career technical operation on Monday at the former Sullivan North High School.

They gathered in an old vocational bay of the school, amid tools of sponsoring companies Rigid and Ryobi, in large part to see a master plumber from Middle Tennessee cut the ribbon.

The TCAT operation, so far offering building trades in a Building Construction Technology Institute and nursing instruction to adults and high school students, opened on Jan. 4 but had the formal ribbon cutting on Monday to work the event into the schedule of the plumber from Franklin, which is just south of Nashville.

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fter years of study, planning and debates over funding, construction is officially underway on a long-awaited expansion of the Sullivan County Jail.

The contractor began clearing and preparing the roughly three-acre site behind the current jail more than a week ago.

But an official “groundbreaking” drew a crowd of county officials to help shovel ceremonial dirt on Monday to mark construction starting on the $96 million project.

The expansion will increase the jail’s certified capacity by more than 500 beds, increase safety for jail personnel and inmates alike, and improve security within and around the facility.

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Email: mparker@networkstn.com
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