Amy New, President & CEO, Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce

Chambers of commerce are crucial in a growing region to support new business and further usher economic growth by connecting businesses with one another and helping develop the talent pipeline. In an interview with Invest:, Amy New, president and CEO of the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce, highlighted the chamber’s efforts to support the local economy and reasons to be optimistic for the future. “We see how special Putnam County is, but now, so many other people are seeing that as well,” New said.

What changes in the past year have had the most impact on your operations?

One of the biggest impacts is the continued migration into Tennessee. We are truly a low-cost-of-living state. We are strategically located as well. We have noticed many people moving into our area and bringing their businesses with them. People are creating more and more small businesses in the area as well. This has been a huge change for us. We are also seeing our historic downtowns thriving. We have four in Putnam County, all of which are thriving with successful businesses and restaurants. It is really beautiful to see how it is all working together.

How does the chamber’s efforts help support the economic environment in the region?

Within the chamber, we have the traditional chamber functions, such as membership support, networking, and social events; celebration of key member milestones; and working with local economic and workforce development projects. I would say about 80% of what we do daily is geared toward retention and expansion of existing industries. This has picked up tremendously over the past six months with projects related to prospective businesses coming to the area. To bring more companies, we have to continue to fuel our talent pipeline, which includes educating K-12 students about different industry clusters and available jobs in our community and hosting career fairs where students can interact with all the businesses in the area, for example. We want to target every age group that we can to help fill the pipeline. As far as local academic institutions, we have Tennessee Tech, Vol State Community College, and TCAT present. For us, education and workforce development are critical focus areas.

What are the fastest growing industries in the region?

Healthcare is at the top of the list in terms of fastest growing industries in the region. Also, computer science and IT. We are continuing to see growth in that industry segment. With more and more people moving into Tennessee, they are bringing their jobs with them and our access to high speed broadband options allows remote workers to do their jobs from anywhere. Advanced manufacturing continues to grow as well as a result of our access to the I-40 corridor. Similarly, transportation and logistics continue to see a lot of growth in our area. Most importantly, our small businesses are thriving as well. 

What key trends are you seeing when it comes to small-business growth and entrepreneurship?

Housing and construction continue to explode. It is not just in Nashville but throughout the state. It is hard to find contractors and subcontractors because they are all extremely busy. Also, the local entrepreneurial ecosystem is evolving. Many people are retiring to the area and, in turn, they are creating new business out of a personal passion. Many of these new businesses partner up with Tennessee Tech students to create these businesses because the founders may have the passion but they might not have the expertise, or the marketing knowledge, or know how to take their business to e-commerce, for example. They team up with local students to start their businesses. It is really interesting to see the multigenerational connection that is happening in the entrepreneurship world here in Upper Cumberland. Also, the industrial development that is happening as a result of companies settling in the region and creating national headquarters in Putnam County is accelerating. There are multiple examples of huge companies in the food distribution or tech space moving their operations to our region. Tourism also continues to thrive as well. 

In what ways does the chamber collaborate with the local education institutions?

We do this in different ways. We leverage the career fairs that are hosted throughout the year. We also have our speaker bureau series, where we learn what projects the students are working on or what they want to add to their portfolio, and we will source the experts so they can take their passion and knowledge into the classroom. We also help organize trips for students and teachers to see industries and learn about them more closely. It is really important for the professors and the faculty to learn and be involved with the industries that they are teaching so they can learn about how the industries operate outside of the academic world. We have also seen some of these classes solve problems in those industries. It is amazing to see how quickly they are solving these problems for those industries. Sometimes industries cannot upscale or take on more contracts, and they can’t figure out how they will make it work. The students help them reach a working solution. 

What advice would you give businesses looking to settle in the region?

I would say do it now. Also, find a way to connect and develop relationships with our education partners and connect with them. If businesses can connect with Tennessee Tech in order to have access to talent or to develop a business plan, they will be successful. No one will regret having a relationship with Tennessee Tech. Tennessee Tech is the anchor across our 14-county region. We consider ourselves Tennessee’s college town and we tell businesses that every time they come they will have great access to bright and motivated individuals. The continued growth in every industry sector is very encouraging. We see how special Putnam County is, but now, so many other people are seeing that as well. Individuals considering coming to the region recognize that there is something special in the area. We all work well together from the county, to the city, to the universities, to the hospitals. Everyone is very well connected and we are constantly communicating. Having good leadership and great communication coupled with the continued growth that we are seeing makes us very optimistic.