An article in this morning’s Tennessean brought up the issue of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville-Davidson County contributing to the Chamber’s economic development efforts. Why does the city make this investment? The answer is simple: jobs.

The Chamber’s economic development efforts are all about creating jobs in Davidson County and the surrounding counties. Our efforts since July 2009 have led to 114 relocations and expansions in the region representing 12,740 jobs. In Davidson County alone during this same time period, we have seen 55 relocations and expansions representing 5,714 jobs. That’s 5,714 people in Nashville who would not have these job opportunities without the work the Chamber does every day.

That is why Metro has committed funding since our Partnership initiative was formed in 1990. The revenue we get from the city is specifically allocated toward the Chamber’s economic development efforts – recruiting businesses, helping existing businesses expand and marketing the Nashville region to site consultants and prospects both nationally and internationally. With Metro focusing on the government side of economic development and the Chamber focusing on the project management and marketing side, our roles in economic development complement each other and are both critical to growing Nashville’s economic prosperity. Also, the Chamber's top priority is improving public education in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. If you consider the cost of the city mounting such efforts, $300,000 per year is a tremendous value.

In addition, the investment we receive from Metro is actually a small percentage of our overall funding when compared to the amount of public funding provided by Nashville’s top competitor cities in Tennessee and the nation. This document shows the breakdown of government funding for each of our competitor cities.

The public-private partnership allows us to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars by leveraging the public investment with the $3-4 million we receive each year from private sources. This approach has proven successful over the past 20 years, as we’ve helped bring more than 600 corporate relocations representing nearly 234,000 jobs to the region. In addition, the region’s population grew more than 60 percent and per capita income is up nearly 30 percent since 1990. Because of these efforts, Expansion Management magazine named Nashville “America’s Hottest City” for corporate relocations for several years in a row. In 2009, Site Selection magazine recognized Partnership 2010 as one of the top 10 economic development groups in the country, and that same year, the American Chamber of Commerce Executives named the Nashville Area Chamber the No. 1 large chamber in the country.

Partnership 2010 has become a model for other cities and regions throughout the country, and the regional cooperation we experience here is a huge selling point to relocating and expanding companies. As a regional economic development organization, we know that an expansion or relocation in one county benefits the surrounding counties as well. Businesses and consumers do not see political lines in the same way that governments do. People often cross county lines to work, shop, play or live. Our regional economic development partners, including the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development, understand this dynamic, so we all work very closely with each other to make sure the entire region is experiencing economic growth.

The article also brought up the Chamber’s role in policy discussions. Our goal is to have a government environment that understands the role of business in growing the economy and to have a community environment that retains and attracts businesses, workers and families. In order to communicate with members of the Metro Council, the Chamber is required to register anyone who comes in contact with Metro Council members to discuss legislation as a lobbyist. This includes Bill Phillips, our primary Metro lobbyist, and Dan Haskell, our primary state lobbyist. In addition, staff members Ralph Schulz (president/CEO), Debby Dale Mason (chief community action officer) and Marc Hill (chief education officer) are registered as lobbyists to ensure we are complying with the law. The funding we receive from the city is specifically allocated toward the Chamber’s economic development efforts, so there’s a distinct division between any policy action we take and our economic development work.

During the next five-year economic development effort, Partnership 2020, our city’s future prosperity will require even stronger commitments from both public and private entities across the entire 10-county region. In an increasingly competitive global economy, everyone must step up to the plate to ensure that the Nashville region continues to be the best place in the country to live, work and invest.