"Citizens in our region don't think twice about crossing state or county lines to go to work or shop or buy a house," said Mayor Ramsey. "We all stand to benefit from economic development projects that locate anywhere within our region, and we can achieve the greatest benefit from these opportunities if we work together on issues like workforce development, transportation, and the like."
"We won Volkswagen through effective cooperation," said Mayor Littlefield. "I believe the best way for us to weather the current economic uncertainties is to broaden the circle of that cooperation to include public and private entities throughout our region."
The focus on regionalism was the first of eight "lessons learned" from a recent trip the Chattanooga Chamber coordinated to glean best practices from Greenville, South Carolina's experience since BMW established an automotive assembly facility there in 1992.
"First and foremost, we learned that BMW brought tremendous economic benefit," Tom Edd Wilson said. "But that benefit was not automatic. Many of the leaders we talked to in Greenville felt that they had learned the importance of regional cooperation the hard way. Others pointed out that their area did not effectively plan for the kind of growth that has occurred. I hope we can learn from the challenges they identified for us."
The expedition to Greenville engaged 100 community leaders from the Tri-State Valley, which includes Chattanooga-Hamilton County as well as nearby counties in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. Participants included public officials, businesspeople, and educators. The group was divided into four study tracks: K-12 Education; Higher Education & Workforce Development; Industrial Development & Physical Infrastructure; and Relocation Marketing, Community Assimilation & Quality of Life.
Each of these study tracks included presentations and tours led by Greenville leaders who had direct experience with the impact of BMW over the last 15 years. On the last day of the learning expedition, attendees participated in facilitated sessions to document the major lessons they had learned and brainstorm recommended next steps. Jim Kennedy of Kennedy, Coulter, Rushing, and Watson served as the overall facilitator for the Greenville sessions and worked with Chattanooga Chamber staffers to draft and refine a report of the expedition's findings entitled, "Applying Lessons Learned from Upstate South Carolina to the Tri-State Valley."
The report, which was presented Friday at the Chattanoogan Hotel to over 200 community leaders representing a variety of disciplines from across the Tri-State Valley region, focused on eight major lessons:
- Think and act regionally.
- Prepare for changes in education and workforce training.
- Be transparent in hiring.
- Pay attention to minority involvement.
- Create effective communication channels.
- Bridge the cultures.
- Prepare for growth.
- Calibrate community expectations.
The report also offers suggested starting points in each of these areas based on recommendations developed during the Greenville Expedition. As a next step in the process, Mayor Ramsey and Mayor Littlefield plan to work with the Chattanooga Chamber to convene regional leaders to begin defining the parameters for regional cooperation.
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