UT CIS Collaborates with Northwest & Southwest Regional State of TN ECD to Host Collaborative Partners Meeting

Thursday, August 31, both the Northwest and Southwest Regional State of Tennessee ECD hosted their first collaborative and in person Partners Meeting since the pandemic. The event was held at the UT Agriculture Research and Education Center in Jackson, TN. UT Center for Industrial Services (UT CIS) collaborated with ECD to host the event. Over 20 regional and federal partners were in attendance. USDA Rural Development’s State Director Arlisa Armstrong served a s the keynote speaker for the event. The next Regional Partner’s meeting is tentatively scheduled for December.

UT CIS TMEP Solutions Consultant, Andre Temple, conceived of the idea of partnering with the ECD regions to host the meeting in the Jackson, TN UT offices to facilitate the partnership between the NWTN and SWTN ECD regions and UT CIS with the goal being to more strongly align the two organizations. UT CIS seeks to be a resource for the companies that TN ECD supports and thus the enhanced relationship benefits all. UT CIS’ Andre Temple, Tim Waldo, and Keith Groves participated in this meeting to enhance their understanding of the needs and challenges of the West Tennessee ECD regions and how UT CIS and our TMEP program can be better positioned to meet both the ECD needs and the corresponding client needs.