Projects & Progress: an Update with the Mayors

Clarksville, Tennessee is in a somewhat enviable position, politically. Though we have both city and county governments, we have leaders who have known and respected each other for decades, Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts, and Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett, working together to usher this community through an unprecedented period of prosperity and growth. BY TONY CENTONZE

They weren’t able to sit down together for this interview, but their thoughts and ideas were remarkably in sync. “Our priorities change day to day, week to week, month to month,” Mayor Pitts said. “Mainly, we talk about what’s most imminent. An example would be a recent issue in the Industrial Park. LG and Hankook were experiencing some turnover in their workforce. They reached out to us separately, so Mayor Durrett and I used our offices to facilitate a meeting with APSU and CMCSS. We got everyone in the same room, and gave the companies a chance to make their case.” is doing, with the Multi Purpose Event Center, their budget, etc., and he does the same for him.

“A lot of what we do is about government helping to create opportunity,” Mayor Durrett said. “Opportunity can be a lot of different things. One that jumps to the forefront is MPEC. What opportunities will that create for our small business owners, or those wanting to start their own business? There will be concession contracts inside the facility, and lots of outside opportunities as well. Joe is in favor of doing some things that

will help this project, like parking, which will benefit this project, but really, all of downtown.” “It’s the kind of collaboration and sense of community he and I have. Another example would be the Greenways and Blueways the city’s working on. We meet regularly, and he tells us what’s going on with his projects so we can be supportive. Those are qualityof-life projects. When people see these things in our community, they want to come here and be a part of it. Are they bringing a small business, or starting one here? It’s all about creating opportunity, and this is a real cooperative effort.” At an event a few days earlier, Mayors Pitts and Durrett were both invited to speak. Mayor Durrett introduced Mayor Pitts, saying, “we are blessed to have him as our Mayor.” Mayor Pitts returned the compliment, saying, “He’s been on the job four years longer than me, and I am lucky to have him as a mentor.” In his office, Mayor Pitts repeated those sentiments. “Because he worked for the city for so long, he understands how it works,” Pitts said. “He understands how to work with the City Mayor. He headed up the Street Department, and then he served as Clarksville’s Chief of Staff. Jim understands the dynamics of both governments, and both are distinctly different. two Mayors tend to approach the issues in similar fashion. Something that is being noticed by their constituents, their employees as well. The County currently employees slightly more than 1,200, the City employees about 1,290. “We are poised for record growth,” Mayor Pitts said. “We have Fort Campbell, a university, and abundant natural resources. Communities around the world would love to have one river, we have two. We have an interstate, a strong manufacturing base, and our geographic location is ideal. You can still get a good house for an affordable price here. You can even live here and work somewhere else, easily.” “Our state is doing well. Nashville is booming. But, it’s on us to create jobs here that will keep more of our citizens from driving to Nashville for work each day. The Industrial Board and the Economic Development Council have done very well at bringing in new business. Right now, we are focused on bringing in more high paying, high-skill jobs. We need to add that layer on top of our strong manufacturing base.” Mayor Durrett also shared his thoughts on what’s driving Clarksville’s economic boom. “You can feel the vibe in this community, every day,” Mayor “I could talk to him about something every day. We exchange emails on things where there is overlap. Though we don’t fund schools directly, we have a big part to play. By state law, 50% of our sales tax revenues go to the school system. Our school system is growing quickly, but by virtue of student achievement, I’d say we’re winning the battle. Our graduation rate is high. But, that doesn’t just happen, It’s deliberate. CMCSS has a plan, and they work hard to provide all their students with a path to graduation.” Mayor Durrett talked about schools as well. “From the County-side, we have to talk about schools,” Durrett said. “And, Mayor Pitts is involved in that discussion. Half the sales tax dollars generated inside the city limits goes to schools. That has a huge financial effect on the city. But as a state legislator, and now Mayor, Joe gets it. He has always been an advocate for education.” Though their styles are different, as were their paths to office, the Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett Clarksville City Mayor Joe Pitts

Durrett said. “Almost every day someone says, ‘man, it’s great to see the city and county working together. There’s an energy that we’ve never had before, and it’s definitely having a positive impact.”

“We are expecting 90,000 people to move here in the next ten years. Throughout history, this community has steadily been on the move, and typically trending upwards. We have now taken it to another level. The rate of growth has increased dramatically from its usual steady climb. Much of that is associated with bringing in global brands like Hankook, LG, and Google. With them here, this community gets a lot of attention. That’s not just locally or regionally, it’s nationwide.”

12 • CLARKSVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL “We are the youngest county in the state, by probably nine years, and one of the most diverse. Those things make us attractive to young people. And, all of these things create opportunity. When people who live outside Clarksville-Montgomery County are looking for opportunity, we pop up on the map. People want to come here.” Mayor Durrett attributes a lot of our success to our state leadership over the last nine years. “The pro-business environment in the state of Tennessee helps us a lot,” Mayor Durrett said. “We had eight years of Governor Bill Haslam, who was business-friendly, and now we have Governor Bill Lee, another successful business owner. They’ve helped us create a business-friendly environment across the state. ClarksvilleMontgomery County benefits from that.” Mayor Pitts predicts a period of unprecedented growth in our population and economy. “We are going to see an investment in this community like we’ve not seen in our lifetime,” Mayor Pitts said. “The County’s doing MPEC, the City’s doing the traffic plan. Right now, we have a list of $500 million in projects, that’s just on infrastructure within the city limits. This growth might be painful, with construction and such, but at the end of the day, we’re going to meet our current challenges and be even better poised for the growth to come.” Mayor Durrett agreed with his friend on the challenges that lie ahead. He touched on the subject briefly, then relayed some of the comments he hears regularly. “We’ve had a lot of discussions about transportation

“You can feel the vibe in this community, every day,” Mayor Durrett said. “Almost every day someone says, ‘man, it’s great to see the city and county working together. There’s an energy that we’ve never had before, and it’s definitely having a positive impact.’

infrastructure,” Mayor Durrett said. “We are planning ten to twenty years out on those issues. We’ve already had three or four conversations with TDOT about our roadways, and things we can do to expedite some of those projects. We are both of the mindset that we will continue to work with TDOT and push that agenda, doing all we can to make those projects come to reality sooner rather than later.”

“But, I don’t think we’re at our peak. There is a lot of room for good and positive growth. We could easily replace Chattanooga as Tennessee’s fourth largest city, population-wise. ClarksvilleMontgomery County is a shining star that was a little dusty. It wasn’t shining as brightly as it could have, but we have some people doing a whole lot of polishing now to make sure it shines as brightly as it can.”

“We are going to see an investment in this community like we’ve not seen in our lifetime,”

Mayor Pitts said.

“Just last night I met a lady who relocated here from the west coast. Clarksville popped up when they were doing their research, and they moved here 9 months ago. She told me she couldn’t be happier. Said it’s the best place she’s ever lived in her life. We hear that from members of the military community as well. They try to get stationed back here. This is where they want to live and work and play after their service is done. We recently met with all the department heads, and I finished the meeting by letting them know this. Everywhere we go, we hear positive comments like, ‘I was at this office, man, I was treated so well. The people were professional. They were nice.’ We hear that all the time. Our employees are as big a part of this community’s success as we Mayors are.”

2147 WILMA RUDOLPH BLVD. SUITE 101 (931) 647-3600 CLARKSVILLE where awesomeness happens

1300 FT. CAMPBELL BLVD 99310 552-1891

111 S. RIVERSIDE DR. (931) 552-1700 WWW.CBCMH.COM