Governor Phil Bredesen, Senator Lamar Alexander, Iceland's Ambassador to the United States Helgi Agustsson, Tennessee Valley Authority Director Bill Baxter and Gerald Boyd, Oak Ridge Operations director for the United States Department of Energy, are among the regional, national and international speakers confirmed to speak at the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit to be held in Chattanooga, October 6-7. 

"It's truly a tribute to our region that this Summit has attracted such an extraordinary group of speakers," said Congressman Zach Wamp, founder of the ongoing series of regional economic summits throughout the Tennessee Valley and the host of the upcoming Chattanooga summit. "This year our sessions are filled with outstanding leaders who believe in and support the economic and technology advancements that are being made here in the Corridor everyday." 

This year's Summit features an opening session on Monday, October 6 that will focus on energy security, advanced transportation and clean fuel technologies. Senator Alexander and Iceland's Ambassador to the U.S. will be joined by Wamp, Ed Wall, the director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Freedom Car Program, and Dick Ziegler, the chair of a new regional Energy Security Coalition, to discuss the Corridor's leadership in developing, testing and manufacturing new forms of transportation that promote greater national energy independence and cleaner air in our region.

Wamp, and Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker, who is chairing the Summit, themed Where Technology Meets the Marketplace, will also be joined by a series of speakers to focus specifically on the important role our institutions play in partnering with the private sector for new high-tech job creation and on Chattanooga's increased emphasis on encouraging high-tech entrepreneurism and new business start-ups.  Corker, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, TVA Director Bill Baxter, and DOE's Gerald Boyd are among those who will help focus this discussion.

"I am pleased that this year's Summit is bringing such top-notch speakers to our city," said Mayor Corker. "The Summit will help showcase the world-class science and technology resources that exist in the Tennessee Valley Corridor and highlight the unique role that we can play in using those assets to create new jobs and raise the standard of living for the citizens of our region."

The Summit also features a Federal Contract Procurement session on Monday, Oct. 6 with Mark Lumer, Contracting Executive for the U.S. Army's Space & Missile Defense Command, and; Steve Beale, Director of the Procurement Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.; Rick Stewart, Contracting Officer, the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center from Tullahoma; Charles Crowe, Director of Procurements & Contracts, the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Operations, as well as a speaker from the United States Army's Aviation & Missile Command.

The Tennessee Valley Corridor, which strategically links the technology assets in Southwest Virginia, Southeast Kentucky, Tennessee, and Northern Alabama, combines a superior quality of life with the people, business, natural, and scientific resources needed to create a unique and fertile region for high-tech research and development.

The Tennessee Valley Corridor Summits have become the vehicle for monitoring the Corridor's regional initiatives and identifying priorities and opportunities for economic development under the leadership of the Valley's congressional delegation, the Corridor Summit Board, and regionally-based Summit coordinating committees. The May 2003 Summit was held in Huntsville, Ala.  Previous Summits have also been held in Washington, D.C., Oak Ridge, Chattanooga, Tri-Cities TN/VA, Nashville, Knoxville, and Tullahoma, Tenn.

All major Summit sessions will be held at The Chattanoogan Hotel in downtown Chattanooga. Anyone interested in high-tech job creation, new business relationships or economic development should attend.  Please visit www.tennvalleycorridor.org for the latest information and to register on-line for the Summit.