Richmond (VA) Times Dispatch 03/15/2015 "9 years later, Chamber group going back to Nashville" Audience: 344,739 Author: Zachary Reid Richmond Source Website: www.richmond.com 9 years later, Chamber group going back to Nashville By ZACHARY REID Richmond Times-Dispatch Posted: Saturday, March 14, 2015 10:30 pm NASHVILLE SKYLINE A statue of politician and newspaper editor Edward Carmack looks over downtown Nashville, Tenn. The Greater Richmond Chamber has added a twist to its annual intercity visit: a chance to see what has come of a big promise it heard about on a previous trip. For just the second time in 23 years of taking groups of Richmond regional civic and government leaders to study other cities, the chamber is going back somewhere it has already been. For three days starting Wednesday, about 165 Richmonders will descend on Nashville, Tenn., to see what's hip, happening and, hopefully, portable enough to bring home. "For those of us who went last time, it'll be our chance to see the convention center," said chamber President Kim Scheeler. On the last trip there, in 2006, Scheeler said Nashville leaders were touting the potential of the as-yet-built center. The $623 million, 350,000-square-foot Music City Center has been open about two years, during which time the city has won convention business away from comparable cities and created enough demand that finding a hotel room in the city's downtown has become a tough, and expensive, challenge. A big part of the trip also will focus on trying to figure out what makes Nashville attractive to young professionals. John Martin, president and CEO of the Southeastern Institute of Research, said Richmond and Nashville are both hot cities for people in their 20s and 30s. The importance, he said, was that demographic shifts show a surge in older, not younger, people in the coming decades " fewer people are having babies, and people who do are having fewer of them, Martin said " makes competition for workers essential. "We're going to have to fight for these young people," he said. Sam Young, the incoming chairman of the chamber board of directors and president of Astrya Corp., promised those who were going a busy but meaningful trip. "It's one of the most complete experiences I've had," he said of visiting Nashville with Scheeler and 1
others to prepare for the trip. During a Tuesday orientation, he challenged the crowd to pay attention, take notes and be ready to bring something home. "We need to make something positive happen because of this trip," he said. "We're supposed to be the leaders. Let's figure out something we can hang our hat on later." The group of leaders includes a wide range of people in the Richmond business, government and education communities. Of the 165 people scheduled to go, about 40 are on their first intercity trip. Most are from the business community, but there are representatives from Richmond and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover and Henrico. Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Richmond, Randolph-Macon College and Reynolds Community College also are sending people. A handful of participants went to Nashville nine years ago. And at least one, Maymont Foundation Executive Director Norman Burns, has lived there. He was director of Nashville's Belle Meade Plantation for five years before being hired by Maymont in 2006. "Richmond and Nashville are very similar," Burns said. "They're both capital cities in the South, and they both have great brands. Nashville's is music. Richmond's, we still need to figure out. But I think it can be Richmond as a whole, not any one particular thing. This is a great place to live." The group also includes the first representation from Richmond Public Schools. Superintendent Dana T. Bedden and School Board Vice Chairwoman Kristen Larson were among the few people in the crowd called out by name on orientation night. "People came back from Denver (in 2013) so pumped up about education," Larson said. "It was exciting to hear, but it was hard to really understand because we weren't there. "Having a seat at the table for important discussions is where we need to be now. Richmond is growing and thriving and expanding in so many ways. Schools is one of the last big parts of the puzzle." She and others who are going said there are two distinct objectives. The first is seeing what Nashville has to offer. The second is getting time with one another away from the bustle of the regular workday. "I get access to people I can't always see here," said Harold Fitrer, the president of Communities in Schools of Richmond. "These are people who help fund a lot of what we do. Getting to spend time with them makes it worthwhile to us." Larson said she was looking forward to that kind of access, too. "There's a difference in what you can accomplish in a lunch you have to schedule two months in advance and getting to spend three days with people," she said. The only other city the chamber has visited twice is Austin, Texas, the site of trips in 1996 and 2011. 2
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