Luncheon - September: Mayor Karl Dean to be guest speaker (this event is closed - Thank You!)

Date: 9/1/2015
Time: 11:00 AM TO 1:00 PM

Bluegrass Yacht & Country Club
550 Johnny Cash Pkwy
Hendersonville, TN 37075

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Event Description: About Karl Dean: Mayor Karl Dean is the sixth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. He was first elected on Sept. 11, 2007 and re-elected on Aug. 4, 2011. Mayor Dean’s priorities are improving schools, making neighborhoods safer and bringing more and better jobs to Nashville. He also works to sustain and improve Nashville's high quality of life through numerous initiatives that promote health, sustainability and volunteerism. Since first running for office, Mayor Karl Dean has made education his No. 1 priority. Mayor Dean recognizes that educating our children is the most important thing a city does. During his many years as a Public Defender, Mayor Dean saw first-hand how the quality of our public schools is directly linked to public safety and in turn, the city's overall success. Mayor Dean also believes the city has a moral obligation to provide every student a high quality education and the chance to succeed in life. To that end, Mayor Dean has acted as a strong advocate for education reform. He has fully funded the budget for Metro schools every year despite cuts to most other departments. He also has allocated additional funds from Metro's general operating budget for innovative education-related programs that keep students engaged in school and enhance their learning experience. The most successful of these programs include: While Nashville's high quality of life, low tax rates and central location make it an appealing place for people to do business, Mayor Dean believes the city cannot afford to rest on its laurels and must be aggressive about business recruitment and retention. The Mayor's Office of Economic and Community Development works every day in partnership with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to help businesses create new, high-quality jobs and expand the city's tax base. Their work has paid off. While the national unemployment rate was at 7.7 percent in November of 2012, Nashville's unemployment rate fell to 5.7. Mayor Dean's approach to economic development has been anchored by investing and building upon what the city already does well. With an international brand as Music City and tourism leading as the city's No. 2 private employer, Mayor Dean was a strong advocate for the development of Music City Center, a new downtown convention center in Nashville. Located just steps from the Ryman Auditorium and the world-renowned honkytonks on Lower Broadway, the Music City Center will attract hundreds of thousands of new visitors to Nashville. With strong support from the Metro Council, work began on Music City Center in early 2010. The project is paid for entirely by visitor-related taxes and fees that are far exceeding revenue projections. Omni Hotels & Resorts was selected to construct the new convention center's headquarters hotel, which will connect to an expansion of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, creating what Mayor Dean describes “as the most unique convention center campus in the country.” Both the Music City Center and Omni Nashville Hotel are scheduled to open in 2013. Mayor Dean also created the Music City Music Council, a group of music industry professionals and executives, who have worked to bring the city and the industry together as partners in expanding its presence here and its world-wide recognition. In addition to business recruitment and expansion, Mayor Dean has worked to support entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially minority- and women-owned businesses. The first economic development initiative Mayor Dean undertook as mayor was to help women- and minority-owned businesses receive a fair share of Metro Government contracts. Dean formed the Mayor's Minority Business Advisory Council and began work on legislation to address the findings in two disparity studies conducted by Metro over a 10-year period. An ordinance creating the Procurement Non-Discrimination Program was passed in April 2008. The program is administered out of a new Business Assistance Office in the Department of Finance, which has worked to significantly increase the number of companies approved for Metro's small business program and the number of minority-owned business registered with Metro. Mayor Dean's administration has also provided financial support for the development and ongoing operation of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, a business incubator which is helping creative people in Nashville turn ideas into jobs. An unbelievable leader in Economic Development, Public Safety, Mass Transit and Quality of Life Mayor Dean first held public office when he was elected as Nashville's Public Defender in 1990, a post he was re-elected to in 1994 and 1998. Mayor Dean served as Metro Law Director from 1999 to January 2007, when he resigned to run for the office of mayor. Mayor Dean completed the program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1999. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Vanderbilt. Mayor Dean is married to Nashville native Anne Davis, whom he met in law school. Ms. Davis practiced civil and criminal litigation with Bass, Berry & Sims and Neal & Harwell. She has taught at Vanderbilt Law School for nearly two decades, including courses on white collar crime, trial advocacy and legal writing. Ms. Davis is currently the director and managing attorney of the Southern Environmental Law Center's Nashville office. They have three children: Rascoe, age 27; Frances, age 21; and Wallen, age 20.


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