FWKCC teams up selecting legislative urgencies
Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce joined four other regional Chambers of Commerce to discuss relevant issues in East Tennessee during a Regional Legislative Agenda Breakfast, which took place in Bridgewater Place, 205 Bridgewater Road in Knoxville, Friday, Jan. 26.
“For three decades, the Chambers of Commerce of Blount County, Oak Ridge and Knoxville have worked together to develop a regional legislative agenda to identify state issues of importance and increase job and business growth in the region,” the breakfast program stated. “In 2021, the Farragut West Knox and Anderson County Chambers of Commerce joined this initiative.”
This year’s primary focus for the joint effort are: workforce, housing and childcare.
In considering those priorities, Chamber committee members heard from Dr. William Lyons, professor emeritus of political science and interim associate director of the Institute of American Civics at University of Tennessee.
Regarding the importance of those priorities, FWKCC president/CEO Julie Blaylock said, “Those rose to the top as the primary focus of this agenda because they are critical issues for everybody, not just for employers but also for their staff and, frankly, everybody in the community.
“Everyone is struggling with housing issues of some kind,” she added. “Everyone is struggling, to a certain degree, with affordable and accessible childcare and quality childcare.
“And, workforce in general, if there’s not a sufficient workforce, who can secure housing or afford housing and take care of the things they need to?” Blaylock asked. “It impacts the entire economy, and it impacts the success of our region.
“(Those three priorities are) the things that are affecting our community here in East Tennessee the most, as far as businesses are concerned,” said Tyler Hunsaker, FWKCC Legislative Committee member and regional manager of event and field marketing with TDS Telecom.
Reflecting on Lyons’ presentation, “I think one of his most interesting things he touched on was the issue of how a lot of people around here say they ‘don’t want to be Nashville’ or ‘we don’t want to become’…insert whatever large metro area,” Blaylock said.
“I liked the fact that he talked about the value of Knoxville’s authenticity, as a region and as a city,” she added. “And that includes the surrounding counties because there’s a great deal of workforce who live in surrounding counties, but they come here to work.
“And the fact that he really emphasized our ability to be successful as we grow and to do it in a unified manner. That’s something that I think that’s part of our culture here, we ultimately do want to work together. It’s something not every metro area can boast.”
Keynote speaker reflections
Regarding Lyons’ talk, “I thought some of the most interesting things were the questions asked,” Hunsaker said.
However, what stood out was “(Lyons’) insights on being able to hear everyone’s voice and opinions, I think was a good takeaway for anybody in attendance.”
Blaylock said the committee mostly talks about the legislative agenda document it puts together as the five Chambers.
“That’s really what they reviewed,” she said. “They did not specify any new piece of legislation as part of their work for this round.”
“I think what this (initiative) has done has put it forward to what East Tennessee businesses and Chambers care about, and hopefully (legislators) will take that into consideration when they’re going back into legislative agendas and also new bills proposed,” Hunsaker said.
“Our committee at the Farragut Chamber really puts focus on workforce and housing because housing’s one of the biggest things that’s surrounding the economy right now,” he added. “There’s no place for our workers to live.
“We work, as a committee, to bring things forward to state legislators, and then upon our recommendations, we hope that it’s pushed forward to Gov. (Bill Lee) so they understand what the local businesses of East Tennessee are facing.”
