Roy Vaughn
› Position: Chairman of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce› Age: 55› Education: Bachelor’s degree in mass communication and media studies at Middle Tennessee State University› Job: Vice president of corporate communications at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee› Career: A Chattanooga native and graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Vaughn has worked in health care public relations for more than 30 years, working as a PR specialist at Atkinson Public Relations and the Ingram Group and partner with Katcher Vaughn & Bailey Public Relations in Nashville before joining BlueCross in Chattanooga in 2010 as head of the company’s communications staff.
During the decade and a half he worked in Nashville in a variety of public relations jobs, Roy Vaughn watched the redevelopment of his hometown of Chattanooga with pride and interest.
“I always knew Chattanooga was just an announcement or two away from the world discovering it – and the addition of Volkswagen here probably was that milestone,” Vaughn says. “I am one of those who grew up here, left and had part of my career somewhere else, so the opportunity to come back is very special for me.”
Eight years ago when Vaughn was offered the chance to return to Chattanooga as head of communications for the state’s biggest health insurer, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, he jumped at the chance.
Vaughn became the volunteer chairman of the city’s biggest business group, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, this summer shortly after the Chamber completed a membership campaign that added 700 members and boosted the group to more than 2,200 members. The Chattanooga Chamber, one of the biggest in Tennessee, operates membership support activities for local businesses and handles Chattanooga’s economic development with the support of more than $1 million a year of public support from the city, county, EPB and TVA for its job recruitment, business development and education initiatives. Last year, the National Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives named the Chattanooga Chamber a 2015 Chamber of the Year finalist for its membership growth, economic development success and and community support.
This year, the Chamber is teaming up with local foundations and the Hamilton County school system to find and support better ways to improve the training of workers for jobs in the community. Only 35 percent of high school graduates are getting the certificates or degrees needed for 83 percent of the jobs locally that pay a livable wage of $35,000 or more.
Q. Why is the Chamber of Commerce getting involved in the “Chattanooga 2.0” initiative to help improve Hamilton County public schools?
A. We all know that education is vital for individuals because studies consistently show that with better education people have better opportunities and earnings. But better pubic schools are also critical today for businesses. If you have an educated workforce – and one that better matches the skill demands of employers – businesses can thrive and grow. If you don’t have such worker skills, businesses won’t do as well and many won’t even come here. We want to be a part of identifying those specific skill sets that local businesses need and figuring out how can we best prepare local workers to fill those available jobs. We think we can play a specific role in connecting businesses and their needs with educational institutions at all levels to begin to train our workforce in a different way. Education and workforce development is a key priority for the Chamber and we believe it is vital for the future of Chattanooga. We know we need to spend more time and resources in developing worker skills because we can’t grow those businesses that are here and we can’t recruit more of the type of businesses we want if we don’t have workers that fill those jobs.
Q. Following the 2014 announcement of the 2,000-employee, $600 million expansion by Volkswagen, the Chattanooga Chamber worked on nearly a half billion dollars of other new business investments in 2015. What is the Chamber’s approach to recruiting more business this year?
A. We’ll continue to work on attracting new investment in our community like what we have seen from new businesses coming into the market, (including more than $1.5 billion of investments in the past year and a half from Volkswagen, Gestamp, Yanfeng Automotive and Vanguard Trailers). But we also value investments from existing businesses, such as McKee Foods (which is making a $102 million expansion in Collegedale). We continue to work for more such projects, whether they are the big ones that get the headlines or smaller businesses adding only a few employees. It all adds up for our community.
Q. The Chamber helped spur the Thrive 2055 initiative to develop a more regional approach to planning development in the 16-county area in and around Chattanooga. As that moves forward toward implementing the ideas suggested over the past couple of years, what did you learn about the region?
A. I think there were a lot of people who were skeptical that you could get people from 16 different counties from three different states to truly cooperate and come around the table. But I think we proved that when you bring people together and establish a common set of priorities, some of the traditional barriers begin to fall away. This should help us to maintain the right overall balance in our region. We want to keep this region special and scenic and we also want to give people job and technology access. Growth is organic and you can’t confine it to a border. We have to recognize and embrace that to better work together. You can either grow haphazardly or we can have rational discussions and decisions about where to best put our resources and cooperate together.
Q. The Chattanooga Chamber has 12 local councils for special geographic areas or special interest (downtown, East Brainerd, East Ridge, Enterprise Gateway, Hixson, Midtown, North Chattanooga, North Hamilton County, Ooltewah, Red Bank, Southside and the International business). What are the purposes of the councils?
A. Our councils give an opportunity for local businesses to come together to discuss common concerns and opportunities and the interaction is invaluable. More than anything else, the councils – the Chamber as a whole – are about being plugged into the business community and all of us grabbing an oar and paddling in the same direction. Along the way, you can learn a lot of valuable insights that you can learn from other businesses that you can apply to your own business.
Q. What led you to get involved with the Chamber of Commerce and why should other businesses join?
A. I feel very strongly about the quality of the community and the quality of life in Chattanooga. The Chamber of Commerce is one of those places where everyone comes together for the community. I think most people want the same things: we want the chance to be productive and to have a good living and our families to be happy and to have a chance to be successful. Having a business community that is strong and thriving creates allows people to be productive and have opportunities.
The Chamber also is a place where you can compare notes with other business owners. It’s a unique collection of people from different businesses with a lot of expertise to be tapped. You can find out about other ideas and approaches that might work in your business even while you are working with others to develop our community.
Chattanooga is a special community. We’re not perfect, but we try to identify issues that need to be addressed and we roll up our sleeves and we go do it. It’s a really unique opportunity and one I love.