The Tennessee Competitiveness Conversation has concluded. Thank you to everyone who made it an engaging and successful event.
To remain competitive in the next economy, the United States must expand its innovation footprint. There is a growing urgency to capitalize on untapped talent, technology, and infrastructure across America.
Under the auspices of the National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness Frontiers, the Council launched in 2024 a new leadership platform, “Competitiveness Conversations Across America”: a set of regional summits and fora in all corners of the United States to uncover local best practices in amplifying innovation capacity and capability, and to elevate and deploy these practices to national attention.
The Competitiveness Conversation in Tennessee focused on redefining place and building the future innovation ecosystem — as the state becomes a major regional, national, and global magnet for investments in the future of advanced mobility, energy, and manufacturing.
The program occurred over two days, with events on April 25th and April 26th, all taking place at the Student Life Center Ballroom at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
April 25
April 26
Senator Bob Corker
Former United States Senator
Deb Crawford
Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, & Economic Development
University of Tennessee
Paolo Ferrari
BSAM Executive Chairman
Bridgestone West CEO
Bridgestone Corporation Joint Global COO
Chad Evans
Executive Vice President
Council of Competitiveness
Senator Bill Frist M.D.
Former United States Senator
Nathan Green
Vice Chancellor for Government & Community Relations (ex officio)
Vanderbilt University
Bill Hardgrave
President
University of Memphis
Chad Holliday
Co-Chair
Mission Possible Partnership
Jeffrey (Jeff) J. Lyash
President & Chief Executive Officer Tennessee Valley Authority
Sidney McPhee
President
Middle Tennessee State University
Stuart McWhorter
Commissioner
TN Department of Economic and Community Development
Freddie O’Connell
Mayor
Metropolitan Nashville & Davidson County
Jérémie Papin
Chairperson, Nissan Americas
Member of the Global Executive Committee & Sr. Vice President
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
Padma Raghavan
Vice Provost for Research and Innovation
Vanderbilt University
Stephen Streiffer
Director
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Ann Thompson
Workforce Development Manager
Ford Motor Company
For additional information about this event, contact Council on Competitiveness EVP Chad Evans at [email protected].
