NASHVILLE – Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey said today that the Tennessee Valley Corridor and the organization’s summits, promoted by his Republican gubernatorial rival Congressman Zach Wamp during the course of the campaign, has never passed the “smell test” in his opinion.
“Well, I’ll just say I’ve always thought it didn’t pass the smell test in the fact that there was an awful lot of money coming from Washington, D.C., that ended up getting to AkinsCrisp,” Lt. Gov. Ramsey told reporters. “We’ve know that for years. What work product have they actually produced?”
Rep. Wamp has touted the corridor and the annual “summits,” or conferences involving businesses and government agencies, as having played important roles in helping spark economic development to East Tennessee, including the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga.
But the summits, the group and the congressman himself came under fire this week. Nashville’s City Paper reported that the Tennessee Valley Corridor, which raises funds through its conferences and selling conferences, paid public relations firm AkinsCrisp Public Strategies $2 million over a 10-year period to promote and run the meetings.
AkinsCrisp now works for the Wamp campaign. The article also suggested some businesses or other entities felt pressured to participate because the congressman sits on the powerful House Appropriations Committee.