News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Highlands Economic Partnership saw a successful turnout and meaningful discussion at its Tuesday industry roundtable.
Economic Development Coordinator Matt Billings said the roundtable centered on advanced manufacturing. He said that is one of the driving economic forces for the Upper Cumberland region.
“A lot of the conversations we had were kind of focused on workforce retention, the role of automation, and then our connection with our education partners and how we can bolster that workforce pipeline,” Billings said. “It was a great chance to get a lot of people in the room that wouldn’t necessarily always been in the same room and talk about the general state of affairs in the manufacturing world.”
Billings said they heard from industry partners such as Ficose and Aphena, as well as educational partners like TCAT. He said the roundtable discussion included big-picture economic discussion from Senator Bill Hagerty.
“He was able to make it out and talk kind of about the state of economy on the national level,” Billings said.
Billings said they have hosted roundtables for some time, but were slowed down by the pandemic. He said they hope to host their next roundtable in a few months about construction.
“We’ve kind of identified the primary industry sectors that are the driving forces of our economy,” Billings said.
