How Nashville area business leaders have helped Middle Tennessee thrive | Opinion
In 1994, Marguerite Sallee, president and CEO of Corporate Family Solutions and 1994-95 Board of Governors Chairwoman, said, “The Chamber’s strength is in its focus — one forum for business leadership, (another to guide the city’s growth). Today, the Chamber is still identified narrowly with Nashville, but its economic base extends far beyond the city limits. The future of the Nashville Chamber, and its challenge, will be to transform the vision, the focus, and the leadership to include the entire region.”
In the nearly three decades since Marguerite Sallee served as the first woman to chair the Chamber’s board of directors, Nashville and the surrounding region have catalyzed an economic engine that’s become a model for thriving cities around the country.
In October, more than 700 business, nonprofit, and political leaders gathered to celebrate the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s 175th year of expanding economic prosperity in Middle Tennessee. Speakers ranging from former Nashville Mayor and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen to internationally renowned photojournalist Philip Holsinger highlighted the thriving and diverse culture that powers the Middle Tennessee economy.
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Partnership 2000 helped turn Middle Tennessee into an economic engine
Nashville’s meteoric rise as a respected, nationally recognized city was no accident. In 1990, Nashville’s business community gathered to form Partnership 2000, a regional initiative to recruit, develop, and retain a diverse business community in the Nashville area.
Since the Partnership’s formation over three decades ago, more than 530,000 new jobs have been created, supported by more than 2,000 company expansions and 1,030 relocations to the Nashville area. As a result, our population has grown 81%, with more than two million residents in the region today.
Today, this economic engine continues as Partnership 2030, a public-private partnership of nearly 250 business and elected leaders committed to leveraging the region’s economic growth to enhance quality of place and livability for the millions who call the Nashville area home. As the region continues to benefit from record-breaking job growth and investment from new industries, Partnership 2030 is implementing innovative ways to meet the Nashville area’s workforce needs.
Access to high wage, high demand jobs in middle Tennessee has never been higher. With the ongoing influx of new tech jobs and increasing investment from our target sectors, our economy is positioned to be stronger than ever.
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Public-private partnerships will deepen prosperity
Over the next five years, Partnership 2030 is on track to support the creation of 230,000 jobs and add $35.4 billion to the state’s GDP. This increase accounts to more than $29 billion in additional person income for the people who call middle Tennessee home.
In recent years, Nashville and its people have been known for their shared resilience. Despite the disproportionate impact COVID-19 had on our regional economy, the Nashville area currently boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates of any large metro in the US. In the time it took other cities to recover, Nashville had already bounced back. Ingenuity, collaboration, and a focus on community sets our region apart, and that same spirit will light Nashville’s future for years to come.
With a focus on inclusion, while also preserving middle Tennessee’s unique culture, we believe expanding public-private collaborations will serve as a vehicle to deepen prosperity for the millions who call middle Tennessee home. As the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce remains focused on our region’s future, we believe it’s important to reflect on the milestones and decisions that brought us to this point.
Through the strength and ingenuity of our community, along with a strong regional partnership between business and elected leaders, the Nashville region’s best days are still to come.
Ralph Schulz is president and CEO of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. Bob Higgins is president of the chamber’s board of directors.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Nashville area business leaders helped Middle Tennessee thrive
