New State ECD Commissioner Stops In Cookeville For Town Hall Meeting

The new State Economic and Community Development Commissioner stopped by Cookeville Friday as a part of his regional tour.

Stuart McWhorter took over the position just four weeks ago. He replaced former commissioner Bob Rolfe. McWhorter said one thing he wanted to do early on was visit local partners across the state.

“Certainly what’s going on here in this region is critical to the state,” McWhorter said. “We actually had Hörmann today and toured their facility, the door facility. Those are the types of stories that we want to tell.”

Hörmann is a German based garage door company that opened a new manufacturing location in White County two years ago. McWhorter said today was the first of many visits to the region and other partners.

“My goal in all of this really is to just connect with our partners at the local level,” McWhorter said. “They are the boots on the ground for us. We rely on their work that they do. They give us information and insights of what’s going.”

McWhorter discussed recruitment of businesses to rural areas and the goals of Governor Bill Lee with several region leaders in an open town hall. They gathered at the UCDD offices.

This served as the fifth stop of nine across the state this week.