Chattanoogans long have been familiar with Patsy Hazlewood as she has served professionally in top positions with BellSouth and AT&T, as well as serving as president of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, on the board of United Way and in other civic positions.
Now, Hazlewood has been named by Bill Hagerty, Tennessee Economic and Community Development commissioner, to serve as director of the "jobs base camp" for 10 Southeast Tennessee counties.
Her economic development efforts will focus on Hamilton, Marion, Grundy, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Rhea, Meigs, Bradley, McMinn and Polk counties.
Hazlewood "has the experience and skill to serve Tennessee businesses as a single-point-of-contact for state services and to align communities in the region behind a unified job creation strategy," Hagerty said in a statement.
Hazlewood added, "There are many forward-thinking and innovative companies in Southeast Tennessee and our office will do its best to help them grow and create new jobs."
The Chattanooga area has been attractive and successful in recent job-producing ventures. We are confident that Hazlewood's experience makes her an excellent choice to promote even more development for the benefit of the people of our region.