posted January 29, 2003
 Jay Garner |
Tom Edd Wilson, Chamber president, said Mr. Garner will be returning to Atlanta and going back into private consulting work.
Mr. Wilson said, "Jay had never moved his family here, and I think they finally decided that Chattanooga was not the place they were going to live."
He said Mr. Garner will be around the office for a couple more weeks "closing out" on his duties here.
Mr. Garner had been touted as a key weapon in Chattanooga's economic development arsenal in seeking to bring in industry - especially to the new Enterprise South Industrial Park.
He has also been involved in leading a $9 million "Tell The World" fund drive at the Chamber.
Mr. Wilson said there are no immediate plans to replace Mr. Garner.
He said Trevor Hamilton, who joined the Chamber recently, would be taking over many of his duties.
Mr. Wilson said, "We have 24 employees at the Chamber, and all of them are involved in ecomonic development. That's our main mission. Five spend all their time on it.
"We will carry on with the present staff and review the situation in 30, 60 or 90 days."
Mr. Garner was hired after an extensive search as the Chamber's new Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Development Officer.
Mr. Jay A. Garner joined the Chamber after serving as President of the Economic Strategy Center Inc., a subsidiary of National Community Development Services in Atlanta.
At the announcement of his hiring last February, Mr. Wilson said, “Jay Garner was No. 1 on our list of dream candidates. He is undoubtedly one of the 10 best in his field and brings a great depth of experience and skill in strategic planning and business recruitment strategies. He is a perfect fit as the Chamber advances to an aggressive level of recruiting and marketing.”
He said Mr. Garner had directed award-winning economic development and chamber organizations for 22 years, including positions in Tampa, Fla., Mobile, Ala., and Asheville, N.C.
“Chattanooga is poised for great successes,” Mr. Garner said at the time. “With the support of the leadership from both the public and private sector, I look forward to being a part of building an economic development organization that will be the envy of any and every community. My family and I look forward to making the Chattanooga area our new home.”
Mr. Garner said Wednesday "the Chamber was well positioned to execute its job growth strategy without him and cited a need to focus on what is best for his family as his reason for leaving the Chamber."
He said being away from his family, who reside in a suburb south of Atlanta, has been more difficult than he expected. “Although we had planned to move to Chattanooga, the timing for making the transition is just not working out,” Mr. Garner said. “I feel I’ve helped Chattanooga develop a job growth effort that will succeed. Now, my family must come first.”
Officials said the exact date for Mr. Garner’s relocation to Atlanta has not been set, but he plans to make the transition soon. He will resume his private consulting practice in the economic development field.
Chamber Board Chair Patsy Hazlewood said, “Jay has helped us develop an excellent job growth strategy. He is responsible for the Wadley Donovan Strategic Action Plan and led the charge on the initiatives that have become the foundation of our efforts, including the development of a new web site and a comprehensive marketing strategy. Jay Garner has helped us put our feet on the path to a sustained job growth effort.”
Tom Edd Wilson stated Mr. Garner’s resignation will not impede the Chamber’s effort to implement the Chattanooga region’s economic development strategy. “What we are doing is a community effort,” Mr. Wilson said. “We have built a team of public sector partners, private sector community leaders, and Chamber personnel that has the expertise and the resources to drive us toward our goal.”
According to Mr. Wilson, the Chamber’s understanding of its economic development mission has evolved since he took the helm a year ago. “We have restructured our organization so that everything we do supports job creation,” he said. “The Chamber’s Economic Development Staff no longer consists of three people. Today, all members of the Chamber’s staff are working in conjunction with the 49 members of the Chamber’s volunteer board and dozens of others with an interest in the future of Chattanooga to further the effort of job creation.”
Mr. Wilson said the Chamber has emerged from its planning phase with a strong and sustainable program to support job growth among existing industry, encourage entrepreneurial activity, and recruit new jobs to the region. “Tell the World! is well on its way to raising the money we need to implement the aggressive strategy we have developed,” he said.
Elements of the plan include a national public relations campaign focused on telling the Chattanooga story in top tier business-oriented media as well as the trade publications for targeted industries. Later this week, the Chamber will launch a web site that will increase its ability to serve member businesses while communicating the Chattanooga region’s business advantages to potential investors outside the region. During the first week in February, Chamber members will receive the first issue of Chattanooga Area Business Trend, a Chamber magazine designed to provide local business information.
In March, the Chamber is initiating a direct mail campaign. Through an industry research firm, the Chamber will receive a monthly contact list of companies among the Chattanooga region’s target industries who are likely to be making an investment decision. According to Mr. Wilson, “Decision-makers in the industries we hope to attract will receive customized information about why they should consider doing business in Chattanooga. In addition, a member of our team will personally follow up every direct mail piece with a phone call and additional support as needed.”
Mr. Wilson also stated that the Chamber is in the process of finalizing plans to market Enterprise South Industrial Park, initiate an advertising campaign, and implement an effort to brand the Chattanooga region as a great place to do business.
Mayor Bob Corker said at the time of the Garner hiring, “We are very excited that in the six weeks he has been at the Chamber, Tom Edd Wilson has addressed one of the most pressing concerns in our community… filling the long vacant recruiter position. Our community is dependent on the important role that Jay will play in recruiting new businesses to the Chattanooga region and we are confident that he will help us bring high paying jobs to the soon-to-be-renamed VAAP site.”
County Executive Claude Ramsey said at the time. “This land at Enterprise South is a jewel for the Chamber to market, and Jay will serve us well in that regard. His experience and contacts – both domestically and abroad – will open up a world of possibilities for smart development of our 1,000-acre site.”
Officials said Mr. Garner brought extensive economic development experience to this region, as well as the support of some of the nation’s leading site consultants.
“Jay Garner is one of the premier economic development professionals in the United States,” said Dennis Donovan, principal partner in the New Jersey-based site location consulting firm Wadley-Donovan. “He is highly respected in the corporate site selection community.”
The Chamber had retained Tom Ferguson, owner of Ferguson Development Network, to assist in the selection process. “The Chamber’s selection committee developed a search criteria with extremely high expectations,” Mr. Ferguson said. “Track record, name recognition among the economic development community, communication skills, high energy level, and multi-experiences in metropolitan communities were all priorities in the selection process. Jay Garner meets and exceeds these criteria.”
Mr. Garner was described as an expert in international prospecting and shares that knowledge as an instructor at the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma. He has led more than 25 trade and business development missions to Asia, leading to the creation of thousands of jobs and more than $12 billion in capital investment.
He is a Certified Economic Developer and a Fellow Member, the two highest professional designations awarded to those in the economic development profession. Mr. Garner holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from West Virginia University and will receive the distinguished alumnus of the year award given by the university this May.
He was selected in 1989 as one of 10 outstanding leaders in economic development in the United States by Site Selection magazine while leading the economic development program in Mobile, Ala. The same publication also recognized him for running one of the 10 best development organizations in the country for six consecutive years. As the CEO of the Asheville, NC, Chamber, his Chamber became the first in the United States to win a Quality Award based on the national Malcolm Baldrige criteria.
Mr. Garner is the co-chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Economic Development Council, the largest economic development professional trade organization in the world.
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