New NNSA administrator to keynote Tennessee Valley Summit

CHATTANOOGA—Retired Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, the recently confirmed undersecretary for nuclear security for the U.S. Department of Energy and administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, will be a keynote speaker at the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit in June. Along with University of Tennessee President Joe DiPetro, Klotz will speak at the event’s Leadership Luncheon, which will conclude the June 4-5 event on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Klotz was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April to lead the NNSA in its mission to improve national secruity through the military application of nuclear energy. NNSA maintains the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile and is responsible for many nuclear nonproliferation, counter-terrorism, and radiological emergency response efforts for the United States as well as providing fuel for the country’s nuclear Navy. The Y-12 National Secruity Complex in Oak Ridge is one of NNSA’s most important facilities.

“Gen. Klotz occupies one of the most important jobs in the federal government to assure a strong nuclear deterrence for our nation’s security and the safety of our nuclear stockpile,” said Gerald Boyd, TVC board chair and former DOE Oak Ridge site manager. “It’s a great honor for the TVC to host one of his first public addresses as the new DOE undersecretary and NNSA administrator.”

The Summit will be held on the campus of UTC on June 4-5, and it will focus on the five-state region’s science, technology, entrepreneurial, and academic assets. More than 300 people from Middle and East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, Western North Carolina, and North Alabama are expected to attend the event co-hosted by Tennessee Congressman Chuck Fleischmann and UTC Chancellor Steven Angle.

Other featured speakers include Angle; Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle; Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Jim Haynes, chief executive officer of Consolidated Nuclear Security, the new management contractor at Y-12; Mitch Patel, president and CEO of Vision Hospitality Group; Todd May, program manager of space launch systems at NASA; several members of the TVC’s congressional delegation; and numerous business, high-tech, community, and academic leaders from throughout the region.

“At this year’s summit, we will remind people why we call ourselves a science and technology corridor in the first place,” Boyd said.

The TVC Summit sessions will highlight important national assets in Oak Ridge and Huntsville, Ala., with a focus on the immense science and technology resources at the Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge and the story of Huntsville’s emergence as one of America’s most important centers for national security, space, and economic development, a press release said. Another session will focus on the host community, Chattanooga, and will highlight Chattanooga’s journey to becoming an entrepreneurial and manufacturing powerhouse. There will also be a session dedicated to collaboration between academic institutions and venture development organizations to support entrepreneurial efforts throughout the region.

Sponsors of the 2014 TVC National Summit to date include The Enterprise Center, Avisco Inc., Cadre5, City of Chattanooga, Ch2MHill, Decosimo, Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, Energy Solutions, EPB, Hamilton County, Information International Associates, Mesa Associates Inc., Southeast Industrial Development Association, S.M. Stoller, SunTrust, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Roane State Community College, Pellissippi State Community College, and Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc.

The TVC Leadership Council provides on-going support for the organization, and its membership includes the Y-12 National Security Complex, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Tennessee Valley Authority, University of Tennessee, Alstom, Eastman Chemical Company, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Siskin Steel, Tennessee Tech University, and UCOR.

For information about the TVC or to register to attend the 2014 TVC National Summit, visit www.TennValleyCorridor.org. Registration for the June 4-5 event ends on May 23.