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Corridor Summit Draws Key Speakers
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Zach welcomes Homeland
Security Secretary Chertoff
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Congressman Wamp hosted and opened the tenth Tennessee Valley Corridor national technology Summit in the nation’s capital featuring America’s top Homeland Security and Energy leaders as keynote speakers.
On the heels of the terrorist bombings in London, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff spoke to the nearly 500 top Corridor leaders assembled about the important role that technology plays in America’s efforts to combat terrorism here and around the world. Many of those technologies are being developed, tested and deployed through the coordinated work of several public institutions and private businesses within the Tennessee Valley Corridor.
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Presentation to DOE Secretary Bodman
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“From the work being done at all of the Corridor’s research universities, at the Oak Ridge National Lab and Y-12 National Security Complex, as well as dozens of corporations in the Valley, we have mobilized the Tennessee Valley Corridor as a ‘go to’ region in securing the homeland and decreasing our need for foreign oil supplies,” said Zach. “We are pleased that Secretary Chertoff and Secretary Bodman recognize the value of a region rich in technology assets as we confront many new challenges at home and abroad.”
U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, Tennessee Valley Authority Chairman Bill Baxter and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Jeff Wadsworth addressed the attendees with a message on how Corridor institutions and technologies can help the U.S. become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
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Zach moderates the
panel discussion session
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In 2004, the Tennessee Valley Corridor was recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce as one of the top two regional economic development organizations in the country. The Corridor tied with the famed Research Triangle Partnership in North Carolina as the nation’s most outstanding organization’s for enhancing regional competitiveness.
Previous Corridor Summits over the past ten years were held in Oak Ridge; Chattanooga; Knoxville; Tri-Cities, TN/VA; Huntsville/Decatur, Ala.; Tullahoma, Tenn.; Nashville; Somerset, KY; and Washington, D.C. East Tennessee had strong representation at this year's Summit with IPIX, Remotec, ATTI, ORNL, BWXT Y-12, TVA and ARC all in attendance.
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