54th Annual Governor’s Conference Sessions
September 12-13, 2007
Nashville Convention Center
Please note: All sessions and speakers subject to change.
Sessions: 1 | 2| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007
7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Exhibit Hall Open
7:30 – 9 a.m. Registration, Continental Breakfast
9 – 10 a.m. Session 1
1. International Prospecting
Tennessee’s international business development directors from Europe, Canada, Japan and China will discuss their markets and international prospecting best practices.
Speakers: Robert Bathgate, ECD Canadian Director; Rainer Heurmann, ECD European director; Takatsugu Yamaguchi, ECD Japan Director; Li Weaver, ECD China Director
Moderator: John Word, ECD Europe and Americas Director
2. Bio-Fuels: Liquid Gold?
By encouraging the production, distribution and use of biofuels, particularly biodiesel and ethanol, Governor Bredesen has challenged Tennessee to transform some of the state's energy and environmental challenges into economic opportunity and increased energy security. Hear from members of the Alternative Fuels Working Group and learn about potential growth areas and resources in the biofuels industry.
Speakers: Dr. James Byford, Dean, College of Agriculture and Applied Science, The University of Tennessee at Martin; Joe Gaines, Assistant Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Agriculture and Co-chair, Alternative Fuels Working Group; Diane Mulloy, President, Milagro BioFuels of Memphis; Dr. Kelly Tiller, Director of External Operations, Office of Bioenergy Programs, The University of Tennessee
Moderator: Ryan Gooch, ECD Director of Energy Policy
3. Small Business, Big Job Growth
Small businesses are critical to Tennessee’s economic strength and to helping the state compete in today's global marketplace. Get the resources you need to help small businesses in your community grow and expand.
Speakers: Michelle Proctor, ECD Business Enterprise Resource Office Director; Patrick Geho, State Director, Tennessee Small Business Development Center Network; Clint Smith, District Director, SBA, Tennessee District; Joe Flynn, Director, Procurement Technical Assistance Center, University of Tennessee; Sheila Simpson, Director, Governor’s Office of Diversity Business Enterprise; Linda Shelton, Processed and Gourmet Foods & Organics, Pick Tennessee Products, Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture
Moderator: Larry Kessler, SCORE Counselor, Nashville Chapter
1. The Rise of China
Last year Chinese customers bought nearly $2 billion in Tennessee goods and services, ranking China as Tennessee's third largest market behind Canada and Mexico. Hear a panel of experts discuss how you can help Tennessee companies take advantage of a major global market.
Speakers: Li Weaver, ECD China Director; Lori Odom, ECD Asian Development Director
2. Cover Tennessee: Common Sense Health Insurance
Providing basic health insurance is one of the biggest challenges companies face. It’s why CoverTN was created: to provide health insurance options that are affordable, portable and meet the needs of the uninsured in our state. Learn how to help companies in your community take advantage of CoverTN’s five components.
Speaker: Stephani Ryan, CoverTN Director
3. What Exactly ARE Tennessee’s Incentives?
Over the past five years, there have been more changes to Tennessee’s incentives than in the previous two decades. So, what kind of incentives can the state offer for your efforts to attract new business?
Speakers: Kingsley Brock, ECD Business Development Administrator; Reagan Farr, Commissioner, Department of Revenue
Moderator: Paul LaGrange, ECD Business Development Assistant Commissioner
Commissioner’s Luncheon, Renaissance Hotel Ballroom
Keynote Speaker: Tom Oreck, President & CEO Oreck Corporation
1:15 – 2:15 p.m. Session 3
1. Japan: Tennessee’s Largest Investor Nation
Japan is the world's second-largest economy and a major economic power both in Asia and globally. Learn how Japan and the U.S. are leading the growth and harmonization of the world’s economy as well as the reinforcement of an open and multilateral trading system.
Speakers: Kazumi Iino, ECD JETRO Director; Takatsugu Yamaguchi, ECD TN Japan Representative; Leigh Wieland, Japan-America Society of Tennessee
Moderator: Lori Odom, ECD Asian Development Director
2. Can Your Web Site Get You Eliminated?
Most site selection consultants research potential sites via the Internet before they start compiling a short list to submit to their clients. What does your web site need to stand out? How can you avoid the mistakes that will get you cut? Talk to a group of communications professionals with economic development experience who can give you valuable tips about your Internet presence.
Speakers: Mike McCloud, President & CEO, MMA Creative; Mike Kopp, Senior Vice President Public Affairs/Strategy
3. Getting Ready for Your Orange Carpet Tour
Tennessee will launch a new initiative bringing site selection consultants to rural communities, but there’s more involved than hosting a barbecue. Talk to someone who will be organizing these important opportunities.
Speakers: Adam Rujan, Partner, Plante & Moran, PLLC, Southfield, MI
1. Investors are Coming! Communicating with Foreign Prospects
Hosting foreign prospects requires organization and attention to detail. From itineraries to transportation to hotels, there are many items to consider when welcoming visitors to your community. Hear from ECD experts who work primarily with foreign prospects and learn how to best showcase your community to the international community.
Speakers: John Word, ECD European Development Director; Lori Odom, ECD Asian Development Director; Robert Bathgate, ECD Canadian Director; Rainer Heumann, ECD European director; Takatsugu Yamaguchi, ECD Japan Director
2. A Corporate HQ? In My Community?
Increasingly site selectors for corporate headquarters are being asked to seek out communities with a great quality of life and reasonable operating costs. Often that may mean a rural community with a tradition of warmth and hospitality. Learn from the Tennessee small towns who have succeeded in luring a new generation of corporate decision makers.
Speakers: Michael A. Cutri, Managing Director, National Leader, Location Incentives Group, Capital Markets Group, Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc.; Frank Tamberinno, Maury Alliance; Ted Hackney, Coffee County Chamber
3. What Your Main Street Says About Your Community
ECD’s Main Street program helps communities revitalize their downtown commercial districts. Learn about the Main-Street “four-point approach” to downtown revitalization and hear how you can regenerate growth in your community’s downtown.
Speakers: Kimberly Nyberg, ECD Main Street Program Coordinator; Kathy LaPlante, Program Officer, National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center, Washington D.C.
4 – 5 p.m. Session 5
1. Turning Prospects into Projects
Get an inside look at how ECD recruits and retains companies to Tennessee. Hear from ECD’s business development experts on how prospects become new projects for job growth.
Speakers: Paul LaGrange, ECD Business Development Assistant Commissioner; Kingsley Brock, ECD Business Development Administrator; Charlie Giffen, ECD National Recruitment Director
2. Can I Find a House? How Your Housing Inventory Affects Recruiting
Local businesses and employers are affected by the lack of affordable housing in a region, causing an unstable, shifting labor force. Learn about housing affordability and how it’s not just a problem for low-income groups.
Speakers: Ted Fellman, Executive Director, Tennessee Housing Development Agency; Lorrie Shearon, Assistant Executive Director for Policy Development & Research, Tennessee Housing Development Agency
3. Making “Cents” of Grants
ECD’s Program Management Division administers federal, regional and local grant programs. Learn about application processes, deadlines and grant writing best practices.
Speakers: Philip Trauernicht, ECD Program Management Administrator; Jeff Bolton, ECD Grants and Loans Director; Paula Lovett, ECD Grants and Loans Director
Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007
8 a.m. – 2:45 p.m. Exhibit Hall Open
8 – 9 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9 – 10 a.m. Session 6
1. Secrets of the Site Selectors
When companies look to expand in other markets, they usually call a site selection consultant. Learn how site selectors evaluate sites and their criteria for selecting a community. It’s time to ask the experts how to get your community in the running for new projects.
Speaker: Mike Mullis, President & CEO, JM Mullis, Inc.
Moderator: Paul LaGrange, ECD Business Development Assistant Commissioner
2. Incentivizing with TIFs
The use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) as an economic incentive will be discussed in this informative session. The panel will explain the basic concepts and requirements, the types of facilities that may be financed under the available programs and the tax issues presented by TIF bonds.
Speakers: Tom Trent, Attorney; Joe Gibbs, Attorney; John Haynes, Attorney
3. Retire Tennessee
Last year, ECD launched Retire Tennessee, a pilot program promoting Tennessee as a great place for retirees to call home. Hear more about the new program and the economic benefits of recruiting retirees to your community.
Speakers: George Halford, President, Cookeville Area/Putnam County Chamber of Commerce; Galia Thompson, Administrative Assistant, Henry County Alliance; Malcolm Wilson, Vice President of Operations, Starwood Properties, Bristol; Shane Holt, Realtor, Re/Max Choice Properties for Fairvue Plantation, Gallatin; Jeff Fleming, Assistant City Manager for Development, Kingsport
Moderator: Ramay Winchester, ECD Specialist for Retire Tennessee
1. Automakers Look South
In the past decade, the automotive industry has been flocking southward. There are many reasons for the auto industry's geographic shift, a trend most experts predict will continue. Learn about industry trends and what automotive CEO’s look for in a community.
Speakers: Dr. Bill Fox, University of Tennessee; Sujit CanagaRetna, The Council of State Governments, Southern Legislative Conference
2. Don’t Let Flood Waters Swamp Your Business Community
Map Modernization is a cornerstone for helping communities to be better prepared for flood disasters. Learn the importance of collecting, updating and adopting new flood data and how ECD’s Local Planning office can help your community start the modernization process.
Speakers: Dan Hawk, ECD Community Development Administrator; Tim Roach, ECD Local Planning Director; Stanley Harrison, ECD Special Projects Director
3. Why Chambers Should Care About International Trade
Would identifying new customers for your members qualify as an important “existing industry” program? Looking for a new initiative to help small businesses in your community grow or help struggling members survive? There’s a reason Tennessee’s most successful chamber organizations are going global.
Speakers: John Butler, Nashville Chamber; John Aron, The Pasta Shoppe; Cathy Blaylock, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
4. Three Cheers for Three-Star
Three-Star has teamed up with the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence to assess the strategic plans developed by certified communities, and to provide coaching and feedback on how to implement and improve those plans. Learn more about this partnership as well as new program requirements for 2008.
Speakers: Melinda Keifer, ECD Three-Star Director; Katie Rawls, President, Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence
Governor’s Luncheon, Renaissance Hotel Ballroom
Keynote speaker: Governor Phil Bredesen
1:15 – 2:15 p.m. Session 8
1. How Will Companies Assess Your Labor Market?
How can we align industry work force needs with Tennessee’s available workforce? Hear from Tennessee companies and educational representatives about the benefits of working together to create a solid workforce.
Speakers: Pat Sweeney, Northeast State Technical Community College; Jim Cunningham, Sanford Brands; Nissan Representative TBD
2. How Can We Work Regionally To Develop a Megasite?
The Tennessee Regional Megasite Authority Act of 2007 will authorize Tennessee cities and counties to work together to develop regional industrial megasites designed to attract new jobs and capital investment. Learn the details of this legislation and your region can work together to develop sites attractive to companies with plans to invest in new plants and create new jobs.
Speakers: Jim Murphy, Attorney, Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry; Sen. Lowe Finney, District 27; Wilton Burnett, Jr., P.E., LLD, Jurisprudence, Retired, ECD; John Bradley, Senior Vice President of Economic Development, TVA
3. Capital Connections
Many small businesses in your community may struggle to locate financial resources. Learn the financial concerns of a small business owner and the statewide resources available to them.
Speakers: Michelle Proctor, ECD Business Enterprise Resource Office Director; Clint Smith, SBA District Director, Tennessee District; Clint Gwin, President, Southeast Community Capital; Natasha L. Blackshear, Attorney, MBA, Blackshear Capital & Legal Services
Moderator: Bank of America Representative
2:15 – 2:30 p.m. Afternoon break
2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Session 9
1. What Exactly ARE Tennessee’s Incentives?
Over the past five years, there have been more changes to Tennessee’s incentives than in the previous two decades. So, what kind of incentives can the state offer for your efforts to attract new business?
Speakers: Kingsley Brock, ECD Business Development Administrator; Reagan Farr, Commissioner, Department of Revenue
Moderator: Paul LaGrange, ECD Business Development Assistant Commissioner
2. Technology - Roadmap to Tomorrow
Hear from the Tennessee Technology Department Corporation about how communities across the state are using technology to create enhanced digital environments to attract new business opportunities and talent pools.
Speaker: Tennessee Technology Development Corporation Representative