- BESS MCWHERTER is the executive director of the Tennessee Business Forum and a member of the Ingram Group.
Tennessee is in a period of economic prosperity. Companies and organizations from all over the country are transferring their headquarters and employees to volunteers. People from all over the world are moving to Tennessee and integrated into their lives here. This is the dynamic period of life and work in our state.
However, with the growth of business and economy, new challenges and opportunities have emerged, and the necessity of contact with policy makers is very important.
The ancient motto is that “all politics is local”, which is true. Compared with the federal level, the impact of local politics and policies on our daily life is more obvious. But our daily experience and the experience of Tennessee’s business community have become increasingly affected at the federal level.
The popularity of COVID-19 highlights this fact. The federal government authorizes hundreds of billions of dollars in economic assistance to enterprises and non -profit organizations.
Whether you agree with the decision, most industries advocate a specific relief or necessary funds, which is understandable. Federal election officials advocate formed enterprises, universities and non -profit organizations, and help allocate funds. This is a case study, which is indeed important to show the participation of the federal level to the state and organization of the state.
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If Tennessee grows, its business will also increase
Tennessee Business Forum launched the request of Tennessee’s enterprises in January this year and focused on this concept -federal participation.
Other neighboring states, such as South Carolina and Kentucky, also have similar structures and forums to link state -owned enterprises and key organizations with their elected officials in Washington in Washington.
The Tennessee Business Forum was born from this idea. The reality it focuses on is that with the development of Tennessee, the diversity of business and population is also growing.
This is a positive fact, but it sometimes brings challenges and the influx of information islands. The Tennessee Business Forum aims to fill the gap between cross -industry and policy makers.
To this end, the forum convened the leaders of Tennessee enterprises and other important organizations to discuss extensive legislation and regulatory issues with executives from different industries and main participants in Washington. This is not a typical advocacy organization.
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The diversity of thought is a kind of power
Not all forum members need to agree to participate.In fact, some forum members may disagree In some policy issues.
We tout it as an advantage. The diversity of ideas and experience is positive, and because the forum is also in many industries, which means that when weighing a problem, almost every angle and angle can be considered.
This is a huge resource that decision makers can use when making key decisions affecting Tennessee. As the Tennessee Business Forum is not lobbying, legislators can believe that the motivation for their talks with the forum members is to help promote our state’s maximum benefits.
Of course, any enterprise, non -profit organization, university or citizen can meet with the representatives they chose. However, it is valuable to understand other people’s views on specific themes and understand what other organizations are doing. It is this understanding that has enabled the Tennessee Business Forum to be a catalyst for new ideas, cooperation projects and opportunities, promotes and promotes Tennessee, and supports officials in our elected officials throughout the process. Because now it is more important than ever.
BESS MCWHERTER is the executive director of the Tennessee Business Forum and a member of the Ingram Group. This is the first section of a series of guest opinions in Tennessee Business Forum. In the next year, the members of the forum will write a guest column, focusing on the plans they are carrying out, the strategic goals they want to achieve, and policy issues that affect their organization and employees. The discussion is valuable. The Tennessee Business Forum strives to ensure the opinions of the members, including the policy maker, and enhance the Tennessee.