On June 1-2, more than 300 community, academic, and government leaders from the five-state region will gather at Tennessee Tech University for the 2016 Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit to focus attention on the vital role entrepreneurs provide in turning the brain power and technologies from the region’s universities and federal programs into new business start-ups and the expansion of existing businesses.
The Summit is themed “Where Entrepreneurs and Technology Meet.” The event will be hosted by Tennessee Tech University President Phil Oldham in cooperation with U.S. Representative Diane Black.
The Summit will include two main sessions.
The first session, hosted by Andy Page, president and chief executive officer of Oak Ridge Associated Universities, will focus on entrepreneurship in the Corridor, including the unique approaches to promote entrepreneurship and economic growth in our more rural areas best exemplified by the efforts of Oldham and the Upper Cumberland’s regional partners, a press release said.
The second session, hosted by Tom Jones, general manager and partner of Research Electronics International, will look at how the region is leading the nation in key areas including science, national security, space, environmental cleanup, and manufacturing. These updates will highlight the region’s major centers of federal investment in Huntsville, Oak Ridge, and Tullahoma and give attention to TVC’s progress in advanced manufacturing particularly in the automotive industry, the release said.
Speakers for the event include:
- Phil Oldham, president, Tennessee Tech University
- Congressional representatives Diane Black, Chuck Fleischmann, and Marsha Blackburn, with more confirmations from the TVC Congressional Caucus expected in the coming weeks
- Earl Gohl, federal co-chair, Appalachian Regional Commission
- Charlie Brock, president and CEO, Launch Tennessee
- Joe Hoagland, vice president, Stakeholder Relations, TVA
- Malcolm Portera, former chancellor of the University of Alabama System
- Tom Rogers, director, Industrial Partnerships and Economic Development, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- John Howanitz, general manager, Nuclear Security and Operations, senior vice president Bechtel Nuclear, Security, and Environmental
- Ken Rueter, president and project manager, UCOR
- Lonnie Lawson, president and CEO, Center for Rural Development
- Angeline Godwin, president, Patrick Henry Community College
Sponsorship opportunities for the event are now available. Sponsors for the 2016 Summit already include contributing sponsors: 2:45 Tech, Roane State Community College, and the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce; and supporting sponsors: AerospacePark at Tri-Cities Regional Airport TN/VA, ATC Automation, Cadre5, Energy Huntsville, First National Bank of Tennessee, Highlands Economic Partnership, Materials and Chemistry Laboratory Inc., Research Electronics International, Suntrust, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and the Upper Cumberland Development District.
The Tennessee Valley Corridor’s Leadership Council includes CNS Y-12, Appalachian Regional Commission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee Valley Authority, the University of Tennessee, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Tennessee Tech, UCOR, and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
For more information, to register to attend the TVC Summit, or to become a sponsor, please visit www.TennValleyCorridor.org or email jwiggins@akinsps.com.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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