Connecting Business Leaders and Policymakers at the Tennessee Business Forum

The Tennessee Business Forum encourages engagement and collaboration between the state's business leaders and national policymakers. Members of the forum come from a diverse background, which strengthens the forum's ability to facilitate conversations about national issues. Executive Director Bess McWherter and Brad Bishop of The Ingram Group joined the podcast to discuss the mission, successes and future of the forum.

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Lead Tennessee Radio features conversations with the leaders who are moving Tennessee forward. Topics include rural development, broadband, technology, legislation, policy and more. The podcast is produced by the Tennessee Broadband Association.

Intro:
The following program is brought to you by the Tennessee
Broadband Association.

Lead Tennessee Radio, conversations with the leaders moving our
state forward.

We look at the issues shaping Tennessee's future: rural
development, public policy, broadband,

health care and other topics impacting our communities.

Carrie Huckeby:
Hello, I'm Carrie Huckeby, the executive director of the
Tennessee Broadband Association.

In this episode of Lead Tennessee Radio, we're taking a look at
a new organization in our state.

The Tennessee Business Forum launched in January to provide
business leaders with a forum to connect with one another, but to

also connect with policy makers on the national level.

Joining me today are strategic consultants Bess McWherter and
Brad Bishop of The Ingram Group, which created and facilitates

the forum. Bess, Brad, thank you for being here this morning.

Bess McWherter:
Thank you.

Brad Bishop:
We're excited to be here.

Carrie Huckeby:
Well, Brad, start us off.

Give us a background on The Ingram Group, its role in creating
the forum and why such a group was needed.

Brad Bishop:
Yeah, well, first of all, thank you, Carrie, for having us today.

We really do appreciate it, and we're excited to have this
opportunity.

It's great to join you and, obviously, thank you to the
Tennessee Broadband Association for being a member of the

Tennessee Business Forum.

We really appreciate you joining the group and your
participation in our first year as we launched.

Bess and I both work at The Ingram Group, which is a general
strategic consulting and bipartisan government relations firm.

It's been around for about 40 years.

We are based out of Nashville, Tennessee, but we also have a
presence in Washington, D.C.

And basically we provide communication support, government
relations services, organizational reviews, leadership

development and strategic economic development advice to a wide
array of clients that spans across corporate

clients, nonprofit clients, higher education clients, and other
types of nonprofit organizations.

So we count many state based organizations as clients, but also
a wide array of national and even multinational corporations as

clients. So as you can see, we have a pretty diverse background.

Our staff is comprised of about 12 people, and we have a very
diverse background in where we've worked in both the

corporate world, as well as the government relations world, as
well as in both local government, state government and the

federal government.

We consider ourselves to be generalists, and our team is really
kind of set to fix any problem that our clients come at us with.

So that's basically a little bit about The Ingram Group, and I'm
going to pass it off to Bess to talk a little bit about the

Tennessee Business Forum due to the fact that she is pretty much
the founder and chief of it.

Bess McWherter:
Well, thanks, Brad, and thank you again, Carrie, for having us
today.

We're excited to join you.

Carrie, the idea to create the Tennessee Business Forum was
actually brought to The Ingram Group by business

leaders in Tennessee who already participate in other similarly
structured organizations

in other states.

And they felt like there was no organization singularly focused
on

federal policy issues that could bring leaders together from the
state to talk about how those issues impact

Tennessee and the country overall.

And as Brad mentioned, our team is composed of people, including
myself, who have worked in

many roles within the federal government.

And really, after extensive research and a lot of planning on
our end, our team agreed that this is a

gap for our state's continued economic development, and we felt
like our team was positioned to fill

that gap effectively.

This is such an exciting time for Tennessee as we continue to
see just such rapid growth throughout the state.

So that open line of communication between the state and
Washington is really as important now as it's ever been.

So that was sort of the background on why we created the
Tennessee Business Forum and launched early last year.

Carrie Huckeby:
Well, there's definitely a need there that that you saw and being
able to bring people together so.

And as you said, Ingram Group has a very long history.

And I did see that your team has a very diverse background
bringing this experience from all areas so.

And on that note, Bess, congratulations on being named executive
director of the forum.

And you have had this extensive bipartisan career in government.

Share your background with our listeners, beginning with the
commitment to public service that you saw modeled in your own

family.

Bess McWherter:
Yeah. Thanks, Carrie.

I appreciate that.

I'm really honored to have worked for some incredible people
throughout my career, and I'm particularly

thrilled to be on my current team with The Ingram Group.

My colleagues, as you hear from Brad, they're truly outstanding,
so I'm very excited to be where I am.

But I'm originally from Jackson, Tennessee, and I attended
Vanderbilt University for my undergraduate

studies. But while in school, I interned for Congressman Jim
Cooper, who's, of course, the Democrat that has

represented Nashville since 2003, but he will be retiring at the
end of this term.

But that program was really where I caught the quote unquote
"bug" to work on Capitol Hill.

But to your point, Carrie, I've been around politics my entire
life.

My grandfather was governor of the state.

My cousin is a former congressman.

My own father ran for governor.

My mom actually worked on Capitol Hill for a member of Congress
from West Tennessee for more than a decade.

So it's definitely in my blood on both sides of my family.

But Jim Cooper really sealed the deal for me.

So after I graduated, I moved to D.C.

I got a job with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee under
the chairmanship of former Senator Bob Corker,

to whom I will always be grateful for taking a chance on me in
that period of time.

I stayed on the committee for a few years, and then I went to
work for PepsiCo, the food and beverage company.

I was working on their government affairs and communications
teams.

And then I returned to work on Capitol Hill as an advisor to
Congressman Cooper.

And I handled a pretty extensive legislative portfolio for him,
including foreign policy, intelligence,

trade, transportation, education, small business, women's
issues, all good stuff.

And then I joined The Ingram Group in June of last year while
completing my master's in International Business and Policy

from Georgetown University's School of Business.

So it has been a very fun and wild ride and very busy.

But as we've mentioned, all of my colleagues who help run the
business forum each have their own real

unique Washington journeys.

You know, collectively, our team has worked for Senate
leadership, the Obama administration, the Trump administration.

We've worked as chiefs of staff, in US embassies.

Some have led government relations for big corporations in the
country, and as well as

big political organizations in the United States.

So we've all kind of been around the block, and it's well
positioned us for this opportunity to help serve more

members of Tennessee's economic community.

Carrie Huckeby:
Yes, I was very impressed with your extensive background and all
the experience that you bring.

And also looking at your family history, I thought, well, it
would have been difficult for you to go into anything but public

service.

Bess McWherter:
It was this or my parents sell beer.

So it was this or beer.

Carrie Huckeby:
So the forum launched with 15 founding partners.

Brad, talk about the mix of businesses represented and the
vision that they had and have for the organization.

Brad Bishop:
So diversity of thought and composition was really a goal for the
forum's membership.

And I think we're very, extremely pleased with the results that
we've seen over the past year as we've grown from 15 members

to now 30.

Our membership includes a bunch of different organizations that
represent a bunch of different industries across the state.

Among our membership, we count multinational corporations, a
professional sports team, the state's flagship university, two of

Nashville's fantastic HBCUs, a few local chambers of commerce,
several health care organizations.

And even a handful of nonprofit associations.

So as you can see, membership really runs the gamut.

And that was exactly the goal that we set out when we first
started the Tennessee Business Forum.

And I think we've done a really good job of achieving that goal,
and this really allows us to have some really wonderful events

that benefit, I think, both the delegation and also our
membership, because everyone's trying to to hear what both these

organizations are doing in the state and what they're doing for
the state.

And then they also have the opportunity to hear from the
membership of how they're representing them up in Washington,

D.C.

Carrie Huckeby:
Yeah, I think you're right.

When I looked over the list of businesses that are part of the
forum, there's such a diverse group that those conversations

between those businesses are, you know, you'd like to be in on
every conversation that goes on because of

the diversity of those companies and what they bring to the
forum so.

The next Tennessee Business Forum meeting is next week in D.C.

and your guest speaker is US Representative David Kustoff from
Tennessee's eighth district.

He's the newest member of the influential House Ways and Means
Committee, and he plans to talk about the committee's work.

Although the forum is not a lobbying group, what do you hope
your members will accomplish through this event and those like

it?

Bess McWherter:
Yeah. Thanks, Carrie.

We're extremely excited and very honored to host Congressman
Kustoff and his staff next week.

We've hosted four other similar events this year, and we do plan
to host one more in November.

The goal is really to have candid, off the record conversations
with policymakers like Congressman

Kustoff in hopes of cutting through that typical D.C.

rhetoric and really forging partnerships with lawmakers and
amongst our forum members.

One of the great qualities about the forum is that it's not a
traditional advocacy organization, like you mentioned.

Not every member has the same opinions or priorities.

So our conversations are real, and they're interesting, and
they're never pre-baked.

And to Brad's point, we also hope that it gives policymakers and
congressional staff a chance to engage

with groups from across the state, some of whom they may never
have connected with outside of events like this.

Carrie Huckeby:
I and several other members of the TNBA met with the
representative earlier this year in April.

We were in D.C. for the NTCA Legislative and Policy Conference.

We had a really good conversation about broadband, workforce
development, supply chain challenges.

He was really attentive, engaged, asked really good questions,
so I know your meeting will really go well next week.

Bess McWherter:
We're really excited. Thanks.

Carrie Huckeby:
So, as you know, the Tennessee Broadband Association is composed
of independent and cooperatively-owned companies

that connect about 30% of the state.

Together, these companies have invested more than $400 million
in recent years to connect rural Tennesseans

to fiber networks.

And another $300 million will be invested in fiber
infrastructure in the next 3 to 5 years,

thanks in part to the recently announced grants from the
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

With more work remaining to be done here in our state to connect
residents and businesses to an

infrastructure that we know impacts so many facets of modern
life.

Tell us, Brad, why you think it's important for these business
leaders to get involved in the legislative process at the

national level, not just the state where so many of these
funding decisions are made?

Brad Bishop:
Yeah, I think it's a really great, great question, Carrie.

And it kind of gets at the core of the work that both the
Tennessee Business Forum and The Ingram Group hope to achieve.

And I don't think everyone realizes how impactful engagement
with your representative is within every level, whether that be

federal, state or local.

I know everyone says the old adage is always that politics is
local.

And you know, it's true that people's lives are most noticeably
impacted by the decisions made by local officials.

That is true.

But it's a little bit different once you start getting into some
of those large organizations that are seeking to conduct business

throughout the Southeast or even nationally or even
internationally.

For these groups, you know, the federal government plays an
enormous role in the work that they are doing, both the

congressional and the executive branch.

The actions that they take have a massive impact on what these
organizations are doing every day with their operations,

operations and the decision making that they are taking at the
state every single day.

So take, for example, taxes or health care policy, or I know you
just mentioned infrastructure.

Congress passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill recently, which
is now funding countless projects within the state.

Our delegation increasingly relies on constituent engagement to
kind of discern what's helpful within the state versus what

isn't exactly necessary to bring back into the state.

So expanding businesses often need to engage with those
legislative processes, even if it's as simple as saying, you

know, don't touch this thing that works for us.

That constant flow of communication is extremely helpful for both
the member of Congress, but as well as the businesses within the

state. They're trying to secure some of that funding for
projects that they have.

I think another really important thing that is often overlooked
is that constituent feedback.

Everyone thinks of constituent feedback being calling your local
congressman and asking him to support X or Y bill.

But that also includes businesses meeting with members inside of
their offices.

That plays an important role in Washington's landscape,
especially since decision makers in Congress and the executive

branch are largely outside of Tennessee and up in Washington and
can't see the things that are going on inside of their district

every single day. So bringing those issues to the top of a
congressman's inbox and and kind of getting in person, having

that relationship is extremely important and securing some of
that funding, getting some of those projects that you see as

important, but that congressmen may not see them every single
day happening inside of the district.

So it's important to to get in front of them and have those
meetings.

And, you know, we've harped on it quite a bit, but the state is
just currently in a boom.

And that just means that more opportunity is coming to the
state, especially from the federal level.

And it really puts an emphasis on the need for engagement right
now in our nation's capital.

Carrie Huckeby:
True. And I think the busier that Tennessee gets and the more
successful the state is, our

legislators cannot be experts on every field.

You know, they just can't.

So it relies on those conversations that you have with them to
say, "Hey, this is where we're coming from.

This is the challenges we're facing.

This is where we need help." So I completely agree that those
conversations are the only way to make things

happen.

Brad Bishop:
Absolutely.

Carrie Huckeby:
So while the forum was created to facilitate these conversations
among the business leaders and the policymakers, it

also hopes to create opportunities for partnerships between
these companies and within the state.

And that's really the reason the Tennessee Broadband Association
joined just to meet more businesses and have more

conversations. Have any projects or collaborations between the
members come out of these conversations that

might not have happened on their own, Bess?

Tell us about any success stories.

Bess McWherter:
Yeah. Thanks, Carrie.

Absolutely. I can think of a couple of instances off the top of
my head where we've had sort of a

member to member project drawn up at one of our events, simply
to your point, by our members

attending and networking in the same room.

One in particular that I'm thinking of stemmed from a truly
simple conversation about a

shared federal priority that has the opportunity to

provide statewide collaboration between these two entities.

And truly, it stemmed from the topic of conversation at one of
our events.

So that was unlikely to have happened without being in the same
room in Washington with these members of

Congress and with these other organizations that are members of
the business forum.

So that one in particular has been really fun to follow already.

But there are quite a few examples of great collaboration
happening behind the scenes because of the forum.

And that's again, one of the best aspects of joining is that
members have this opportunity to come together in a very unique

setting and really prioritize both the state's economic
development and its people.

So it's been great to follow and great to watch.

Carrie Huckeby:
Yeah. Sometimes the best ideals come out of just an aha moment
when you're having a conversation with someone else.

Bess McWherter:
Exactly, and I watched it happen.

It was great.

Carrie Huckeby:
That must have been great is as the executive director of this
forum.

So that was exactly what you were looking for.

Bess McWherter:
Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

Carrie Huckeby:
So with the forum in its first year, Brad, how do you feel about
the progress that's being made?

Are you meeting expectations regarding number of members?

I know you said you're up to 30 now.

Is the participation where you wanted and the accomplishments
like you planned in the beginning?

Brad Bishop:
Yeah. You know, truthfully, we've been pleasantly surprised by
the reception that we've gotten, both from the concept and the

actual forum services have received in the first nine months of
our existence.

As you mentioned, our membership has grown.

We originally hoped to secure five founding partners.

We have 15.

We'd hope to have 15 members total by the end of this year, and
we already have 30.

I think it's clear that the need and the desire are there, and I
think we are pretty glad that we're able to fill that gap rather

effectively. But we're always looking to grow and are excited
about 2023 and excited about the future opportunities that next

year is going to present to us.

Carrie Huckeby:
Well beyond 2023, where do you hope to see the forum in three
years or five years?

Brad Bishop:
Yes, you know, we always will be driven by our membership, and
we'll be responsive to their needs first.

But we are looking to grow our numbers because I think to our
points earlier, the participants we have, the more participants

we have, the more collaborations that are possible.

And at the end of the day, that's the goal, is more
collaboration between both membership and the delegation.

We hope to also offer additional services beyond our events, and
I know we haven't mentioned it yet, but our weekly newsletter

which we send out weekly to forum members, and it really kind of
gets at what's driving the headlines in D.C.

that week. I'm including what's happening in Congress and at the
White House and just all around Washington.

It's all the news events, and we send that out each week, and I
think our membership finds that extremely helpful.

But we also have found that our members, large and small, really
are looking for some new opportunities.

We kind of took a poll and found out some new things that people
were looking to achieve in 2023.

And I think we're going to capitalize on some of that.

For example, we plan to offer some additional media
opportunities within the next year.

So that'll be a new opportunity coming in 2023 outside of our
quarterly events and then our weekly newsletters.

So we are very excited about moving on in the next year and all
the opportunities it presents.

Carrie Huckeby:
Well, as a member, I do appreciate your newsletter because I do
read it, and it keeps me on top of

what's going on because sometimes I can't make those meetings,
especially if they're in Washington, if my travel schedule

doesn't allow that.

So I like reading those newsletters to see what's going on, so I
appreciate that.

Brad Bishop:
Yeah, you may not always want to know what's happening in
Washington, but it's important that you do.

Carrie Huckeby:
Well, that's true.

But it's better to know than not know.

Brad Bishop:
Exactly.

Carrie Huckeby:
Yeah. So to wrap up our conversation, Bess tell our listeners how
a business qualifies to join and where they can go

to get more information about the forum.

Bess McWherter:
Yeah. Thanks, Carrie.

Membership is open to any business, nonprofit or educational
entity in the state that

wants to engage on the national level.

You don't necessarily have to be headquartered in Tennessee, but
a Tennessee connection to be part of the Tennessee Business Forum

is always helpful.

And not all of our members necessarily advocate for something or
have a particular goal for

participating. You know, some just frankly want to be in the
room and hear the discussion about the direction of the state

and really how it fits in with the national picture.

So all motivations can be different, but all are welcome.

Membership dues are based on the size of the entity that's
joining, and we have a discount for our

nonprofit friends.

So you can find more information about membership and our events
and joining at our website which is

www.TennesseeBusinessForum.com.

Or you can email me at [e-mail] for additional
information.

Carrie Huckeby:
Great. So as we end here, is there anything else you two would
like to

add that maybe we didn't cover in our questions, or anything
that you want to talk about?

Bess McWherter:
I will only add that I think, as Brad mentioned, for 2023, we're
looking to do a lot

of the same, but change it up a little bit for the better.

So we're hoping to host maybe one or two more events in
Tennessee, Carrie, for hopefully your travel

schedule or the benefit of your travel schedule and other groups
like yours so they can attend more events.

But as I mentioned, we're driven by our membership, so we always
strive to be flexible and

accommodating towards them.

So we're looking to grow our numbers.

We're excited about where we've been and where we're going, and
it's a true team effort, so we're happy to be

here to serve Tennessee's business community.

Carrie Huckeby:
Well, congratulations to you both.

I know that when you launched it in January, you were hoping
where it would end up.

And as Brad said, you hope to have a number of members at the
end of the year.

Sounds like you've exceeded that, and you're going in a great
direction.

So I congratulate you Bess as the executive director.

And Brad, your participation and the communications.

Keep that newsletter coming.

Brad Bishop:
Will do. Carrie, thank you.

Carrie Huckeby:
So thank you both for joining me this morning.

My guests have been Bess McWherter, executive director of the
Tennessee Business Forum, and Brad Bishop, communications

consultant for The Ingram Group.

You've been listening to Lee Tennessee Radio, produced by the
Tennessee Broadband Association, cooperative and independent

companies connecting our state's rural communities and beyond
with world class broadband.