The Tennessee Valley Corridor (TVC), a nonprofit organization representing 12 congressional districts in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina, holds an annual National Summit to address the nation's challenges in energy, science, environment, space, national security and education.
The Summit presents opportunities for sectors and businesses to share insights, connect and partner with each other to develop job opportunities. Slated to be held in Chattanooga May 29-30 at UTC, TVC is the longest running science and technology summit, held each May with more than 300 attendees in Nashville, Huntsville, Washington, D.C. and other cities. Business, academic and community leaders from the TVC’s five-state region come together to gain insight from and interaction with members of the TVC Congressional Congress, government officials, major federal contractors and college and university leaders; to connect with public and private sector organizations and small and large businesses and to create new partnerships and business development opportunities.
The theme of this year’s Summit is Chattanooga and the TVC: American Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Its Best, and speakers include Gov. Bill Lee, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, Congressman Mark Green, Former Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, UT Interim President Randy Boyd, DOE Undersecretary Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, DOE Chief Commercialization Officer Conner Prochaska, AEDC Vice Director Wayne Ayers and many more.
Get in touch with federal contractors, business leaders, the community and other key stakeholders such as TVA or NASA.* Participate in discussions impacting your business and find ways to partner with other like minds. Help shape the focus of TVC!
Find registration and sponsor information here.
Tell me more about the Tennessee Valley Corridor.
The Tennessee Valley Corridor was organized in the mid-1990s based on the ideas of former Tennessee Governor, now U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and former Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp.
In the 1980s, Gov. Alexander had a vision to create an “Oak Ridge Corridor” to link the Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the University of Tennessee to showcase the wealth of brainpower in the region
In the 1990s, former Congressman Wamp founded an annual Science & Technology Summit to convene representatives from government, academia and business to collaborate on ways to bring greater attention to the economic impact these federal missions have on the region.
Over time, the idea of a “Corridor and Summit” merged to create a 501-c-6 organization, the Tennessee Valley Corridor, representing a footprint of 12 congressional districts in Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina. Through the leadership of its board of directors, an annual National Summit is convened and other programs are carried-out to achieve the TVC’s mission and to encourage on-going collaboration to provide national leadership in addressing our nation’s challenges in energy, science, environment, space, national security and education.
What other opportunities do I have to get involved?
In addition to attending the Summit, participating in the TVC Leadership Council provides opportunities to participate in regional activity by spearheading the focus of the TVC. These participants influence the conversation of the Summit and guide the growth of initiatives like:
- Community College Consortium to instill programs to more than 35 community colleges in order to ensure employers have the support they need and employees are knowledgeable in their work fields
- Venture Development Consortium to provide assistance to entrepreneurs, bringing attention to starting businesses, preparing mentorship programs, pointing out funding and investment resources
- Advanced Manufacturing Initiative to improve technology and open the floor for breakthroughs and collaboration so starting manufacturers so they can compete and innovate
Why should you participate in the TVC?
The TVC convenes people to focus on topics that are important regionally, nationally and internationally. By participating in the TVC, you have the opportunity to:
- Engage and interact with major federal contractors, academia, community and business leaders, the TVC Congressional Caucus and other key regional stakeholders
- Participate in important regional discussions that impact your business and industry
- Learn about opportunities to work with small, medium and large businesses in the region, as well as with the major federal contractors
- Get involved in initiatives that are helping our region provide national leadership in key areas
- Help shape the focus of the TVC
For more information, visit TennValleyCorridor.org.
*The TVC Leadership Council is comprised of TVA, NASA, Tennessee Tech, Auburn University, CNS, UTC, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORAU, UCOR, Teledyne Brown Engineering and Morris Creative Group.
