Alfred Degrafinreid Talked with Two Chamber Leaders and Nashville’s Mayor — Here’s What They Said

By Jaclyn Tidwell | Programs & Strategy for Cumberland Region Tomorrow 

This blog is the eighth of a series based on the November 2025 Power of 10 Summit. 

Our final Summit session — United We Create: Building a Thriving Middle Tennessee Through Regionalism — brought together leaders who live and breathe collaboration. Moderated by Alfred Degrafinreid, President and CEO of Leadership Tennessee, the panel highlighted how regional thinking is essential for supporting growth, innovation, and opportunity across Middle Tennessee.

“This conversation is about more than policy or economics,” Alfred said. “It’s about how Middle Tennessee communities can work together to ensure every county thrives.”

The panel included:

• Freddie O’Connell, Mayor of Nashville

• Stephanie Coleman, President & CEO, Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce

• Josh Brown, President & CEO, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry

  
  

Together, they explored how regional leadership, shared learning, and interdependent communities form the backbone of Middle Tennessee’s economic and community success.

Shared Leadership, Shared Understanding

All three panelists are part of this year’s Leadership Tennessee Signature Program, a statewide experience that exposes leaders to communities across all 95 counties. That firsthand exposure shapes their understanding of the region’s diversity — and its common challenges.

Josh Brown reflected on how the program shifts perspective from reading about leaders to sitting beside them:

“It's different than just reading about them — you get to understand their day-to-day work and how all the roles fit together like a puzzle.”

He recalled one session in rural West Tennessee where a county mayor described how a single manufacturing expansion transformed not just the local tax base but the confidence of the community. That story, Brown said, underscored why economic momentum in one county can ripple across an entire region.

For Stephanie Coleman, the program reinforced something she already knew: Middle Tennessee collaborates exceptionally well. Regional teamwork has long been the “secret sauce” behind the area’s economic momentum — but she cautioned that this strength can’t be taken for granted.

She shared a story from a visit to Sumner County, where business leaders walked the group through a homegrown workforce program connecting high school students with advanced manufacturing careers. The initiative was born not from competition but from counties comparing notes and building something better together.

Mayor O’Connell agreed. Long before Leadership Tennessee, he saw regionalism up close through trips to places like Denver and Cleveland, where coordinated regional strategies shaped successful transportation and growth systems. Those experiences, he said, revealed that regional wins are state wins — and regional failures have statewide consequences.

“Leadership Tennessee exists to connect leaders across counties and sectors so they see the bigger picture,” Alfred noted. “When leaders understand each other’s challenges, solutions become collaborative.”

A Statewide View of Diversity — and Shared Challenges

When asked what has surprised them most during their Leadership Tennessee experience, Coleman pointed to data from Think Tennessee’s State of Our Counties Dashboard. The disparities were stark:

• Middle Tennessee holds 30% of the state’s population

• 35% of employment

• And a remarkable 40% of Tennessee’s GDP

  
  

And the same dashboard shows red flags:

• Affordability is now a regional crisis

• The cost of a two-bedroom rental is climbing across all Middle Tennessee counties

  
  

This, she emphasized, is why housing has emerged as a top regional priority. She shared a moment from a recent visit to Wilson County, where a small business owner explained that half his workforce drives in from three different counties because they can no longer afford to live nearby. “It’s a story you hear from every direction,” Coleman noted — a regional pattern with real human impact.

Brown added that while Middle Tennessee may currently be the state’s economic engine, growth is coming — fast — to other regions too. He recounted a conversation in East Tennessee with local leaders preparing for a new advanced-energy employer bringing thousands of jobs. Their excitement was matched by concern: Would housing, infrastructure, and schools keep pace?

How Regional Thinking Shapes Leadership

When asked how regional perspective influences their day-to-day leadership:

Josh Brown emphasized collaboration. Every Tennessee county faces a version of the same issues — just at different scales. The State Chamber’s role, he said, is to convene, translate lessons from one region to another, and support economic success across the state. He mentioned a recent example: when a rural county needed guidance on childcare partnerships, the answer came from a Middle Tennessee community that had already piloted a successful model.

Stephanie Coleman highlighted livability. Economic development has long been regional, but issues like housing, transportation, childcare, and solid waste must now be addressed regionally too. She emphasized that solving these complex challenges often requires both state-enabling legislation and cross-county partnerships.

Mayor O’Connell spoke to the role of regional coalitions. Organizations such as the Nashville Area Chamber, Greater Nashville Regional Council, and Cumberland Region Tomorrow provide a framework for addressing issues that cross city and county boundaries. He referenced the recent collaboration that brought together multiple counties to coordinate transit stop improvements along key commuter corridors — a small but tangible example of regional problem-solving that affects thousands of daily trips.

“Our role as conveners is to help leaders see the threads connecting Nashville to its neighbors,” Alfred observed. “It’s about fostering understanding that leads to action.”

The Future Depends on Smart, Shared Investment

When asked about the region’s highest infrastructure priorities, the panelists pointed to several urgent focus areas:

1. Transportation & Mobility

O’Connell noted that Nashville’s Choose How You Move plan, while locally funded, is designed to serve the region — with express routes, airport access improvements, and park-and-ride systems that benefit nearby counties as well. Brown underscored a statewide issue: Tennessee needs a modern, dedicated transportation funding source. Nashville now has one — but many counties still don’t.

2. Solid Waste

A quieter but pressing challenge: solid waste capacity is tightening across Middle Tennessee.

• Landfills are filling quickly

• Recycling rates are among the bottom ten in the nation. The entire region will soon face difficult questions about waste management.

  
  

3. Energy & Utilities

Brown pointed out that Tennessee’s rapid growth is outpacing energy capacity. New nuclear and advanced-energy investments, especially in East Tennessee, will require:

• A much larger statewide workforce pipeline

• Supply-chain development across Middle Tennessee

• More regional collaboration around utilities

  
  

O’Connell added that small water, sewer, and stormwater utilities — especially in rural communities — often lack the capital needed to keep pace or recover from severe weather events. Regional strategies may become essential.

4. Anchoring Regional Assets

Coleman emphasized the importance of protecting and planning for major regional assets like:

• The Nashville International Airport

• Convention Center

• Sports Authority

• The East Bank district

  
  

These assets may be located in Nashville, but they serve — and depend on — the entire region.

Building an Inclusive, Competitive Regional Economy

Before the session transitioned to its final questions, Alfred grounded the conversation in a simple truth:

“You cannot talk about workforce without talking about education.”

Ensuring access to opportunity — across urban, suburban, and rural communities — requires:

• Strong K–12 pathways

• Accessible postsecondary and credential options

• Reliable transportation

• Affordable housing

• Childcare as critical infrastructure

• Cross-county employer partnerships

• Broadband equity

• And continued collaboration across sectors and jurisdictions

  
  

Coleman recalled visiting a school district where a regional CTE partnership allowed students from three counties to access high-demand programs that no single district could afford alone. “That’s what equity looks like in practice,” she said — shared resources expanding opportunity.

A Shared Future Built Together

The session closed with a reminder that Middle Tennessee’s success has never come from working alone. Collaboration is part of the region’s DNA — but it must be continually nurtured.

Regionalism is not just a philosophy. It’s a strategy. A mindset. And increasingly, an economic necessity.

Whether it’s transportation, housing, solid waste, education, or energy, the challenges ahead won’t stop at county lines — and neither can the solutions.