It’s been a year this month since the Greenville Chamber led an intercommunity leadership visit to Nashville, Tennessee, to see – and hear – how a fast-growing city, strategically located in the heart of the Tennessee Valley, has prospered in a region where businesses thrive and an entrepreneurial spirit is personified across businesses and communities. The object was to better understand the Nashville area’s successes – and challenges.   

Topics included building a vibrant metropolitan region by making big bets and how Nashville has created pathways to success that accelerated growth; increasing educational attainment and its impact on workforce and talent; growing an inclusive economy by fostering regional cooperation; developing the entrepreneurial system; balancing priorities; and improving housing and transit.   

The visitors learned that almost 72 percent of working-age adults in Williamson County, where the city of Franklin, Tennessee, is located, have an associate degree or higher. Greenville then stood at close to 50 percent. 

They were told that in 2007 the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce convened a 75-member task force to analyze the region’s entrepreneurial system and, as a result, the Nashville Entrepreneur Center was launched in 2009/2010. It is housed in the historic Trolley Barns of downtown Nashville and, as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit, the center is committed to making Nashville the ultimate destination for startups by nurturing a thriving ecosystem that supports entrepreneurs at every step.

Earlier this year, I sat down with Carlos Phillips, president and CEO of the Greenville Chamber, to reminisce about the trip, and glean what he thought were the most important takeaways. 

“I think every community, in order to prosper, has to make some big bets. When we were in Nashville, we saw some big bets that has been made on that community. Matter of fact, every community that we visited, I know since I've been here, and even before, we've seen evidence of big bets,” Phillips said. “We see evidence of big bets being made that have been made here, and they're paying off for us. The big bets that the Chamber is advocating are less structural in terms of physical things, but they are certainly significant so that we can continue to invest in the structures. So, increasing educational attainment, we got to double down on that bet.”

In terms of education, Phillips was talking about everything from pre-K through working-age adults who need to be reskilled and upskilled. 

“Our community, we need to make a big bet,” he said. “We've got data that strongly indicates that when we compare ourselves to some of our peer and aspirational cities, we're lagging in that educational attainment. And not just bachelor's degrees and above, but for working-age adults that have a quality credential or above, we're behind a lot of our peer and aspirational communities. And you say, ‘Well, so what? Look around and Greenville is doing great.’ But that deficiency in educational attainment is having a negative economic activity impact on our community.”

The local workforce, he said, isn’t as prepared for careers and opportunities as it could be. 

In Tennessee communities such as Franklin, more than 70 percent of their working-age adults have some high-quality credential or higher, Phillips said. In Greenville County, the number is about 50 percent, he said. And he noted that looking at per capita personal income, which is a measure of a community's prosperity, we're lagging there as well. 

A $9,000 gap in personal income results in almost $5 billion in unrealized economic activity for our county on an annual basis, Phillips said.

“We've been asking ourselves around our table – what could our community look like with additional $5 billion in annual economic activity?” Phillips said. “That's activity that could be taxed to use to build better roads and all kinds of stuff. Bank accounts would increase. There's all kinds of positive impacts that could result from additional $5 billion in economic activity falling through our community.”

He said Charleston, on the other hand, is capturing $5 billion in additional economic activity because its per capita income is above the national number. “They're punching above their weight,” Phillips said. “So, between our communities, between our counties, there's about $10 billion gap in economic activity.”

Power:Ed, the philanthropy of SC Student Loan Corporation, awarded the Greenville Chamber Foundation a $40,000 grant in support of TalentRiseGVL, the Chamber’s program that increases education attainment for Greenville County’s working-age adults by assisting their efforts to earn a certification, credential or degree.

The Chamber has spearheaded an effort to ensure that 60 percent of Greenville County adults aged 25-64 have a high-quality, post-secondary certificate, credential, or degree tied to meaningful employment and economic mobility. Under the banner TalentRiseGVL, the work officially launched in 2023. 

TalentRiseGVL serves and assists adults in navigating barriers to education and career transitions by helping them understand their post-secondary options and developing a plan to obtain a certification, credential, or degree.

In addition, recognizing that work-based learning benefits students, employers, schools, and the community, the Greenville Chamber and Greenville County Schools have partnered to create LaunchGVL, an initiative to connect high school students with paid work opportunities in Greenville’s high-demand occupations. 

The Nashville economic market encompasses 10 counties and a population of more than 2 million, making it the largest metro area in a five-state region.

As the Nashville Regional Economic Development Guide notes, many corporate headquarter giants call the area home, including Nissan North America, Bridgestone Americas, Mitsubishi Motors North America, Dollar General, and iHeartMedia.

Meanwhile, it’s projected more than 250,000 people will relocate to Greenville County by 2040. Chamber officials say they are making it their mission to be prepared for that growth. 

They stress that planning to grow the right way includes increasing educational attainment, developing a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem and building a vibrant metropolitan region with a high quality of life.

Phillips agrees.

“Yes, the community is growing,” he said. “Yes, the number of people who want to pursue an entrepreneurial path is growing. Yes, the number of resources that are available to support entrepreneurs is growing. What we hope now is that the impact grows.”

He added, “I think Nashville is leveraging the resources that they have at their disposal. And I think we have done that as well. Look, I don't want to be Nashville. No, I don't. I want Greenville to be the best Greenville that it can be.”

Said Phillips, who grew up an hour and a half from Nashville: “Greenville has its own spirit. It has its own fabric, its own fiber. I moved here because of that, not because of any bridge or building. Remember, I moved here during an ice storm that shut down everything. But what I experienced during that ice storm was the spirit of the community. When I called my wife, I didn't tell her about a beautiful Liberty Bridge. I said, ‘These people here are phenomenal. I'm in the middle of an ice storm,’ and it was unbelievable to me. So, Greenville, we have our spirit. We have our core.”

After the trip, those who participated observed:

-        Greenville needs to ensure we have the proper infrastructure to accommodate growth.

-        The Nashville brand seems to help align and inspire public and private sector leaders to get things done.

-        Nashville’s downtown success has alienated some residents of outlying communities. How do we ensure that Greenville’s downtown is for everyone?

-        Can we do well, not despite government, but in partnership with it?

-        Easy options (transit, parking, etc.) going to and from a vibrant downtown are critical. Is Greenville ready to handle the growth Nashville has experienced?

-        Can we develop transit corridors to integrate transit and affordable housing?

-        There was consistency across all organizations in terms of brand and data.

-        Don’t force all activity downtown.

-        How can we be more strategic regarding workforce housing for downtown workers? Tourism and white-collar job creation are among the things driving an affordability issue for Nashville.

-        Nashville might be losing its authenticity. How do you protect the brand identity of a community?

-        How does Greenville elevate its ability to garner national funding for important issues such as educational attainment?

-        And Greenville needs to support a penny sales tax referendum to achieve some of these objectives.  

One footnote from the Chamber’s trip: Phillips’ leadership was evident after one local official, speaking to the Greenville Chamber group, challenged members of the Greenville media about recording his candid comments criticizing some of Nashville’s political efforts. The local official threatened to walk out on the Chamber group.

Phillips intervened, gathered the local official and Greenville media together, and worked out a compromise. The official continued his presentation and later privately apologized to the media.