Commissioner Hagerty Names Patsy Hazlewood Regional Director for Southeast Tennessee
Former Executive for AT&T to Lead Economic Development in Region
NASHVILLE — Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty today named Chattanooga business and civic leader Patsy Hazlewood as regional director of the “jobs base camp” serving a ten county region in Southeast Tennessee for the department. The post was created in April as part of Governor Bill Haslam’s Jobs4TN initiative and will be based in Chattanooga.
“I’m pleased to have someone the caliber of Patsy Hazlewood joining our economic development leadership team,” said Commissioner Hagerty. “She 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.”
“I’m grateful to Governor Haslam and Commissioner Hagerty for giving me the opportunity to join the ECD team,” said Hazlewood. “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.”
Hazlewood comes to ECD with more than 30 years in the telecommunications industry, first with BellSouth and later with AT&T. Her most recent position with AT&T was assistant vice-president for legislative and external affairs for southeastern TN.
Hazlewood is a native of Fayetteville, TN and a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University. She is a director/organizer of CapitalMark Bank and Trust, headquartered in Chattanooga. She is a former president of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and still serves on that board, as well as the boards of United Way, the Enterprise Center, and the Stadium Corporation. She is the vice-chair of the Speech and Hearing Center board, and chair-elect of the Community Foundation board. In 2009, she was the first woman to be elected president of the Chattanooga Rotary Club in the organization’s 96-year history.
In her current role, she will serve as one of nine ECD regional directors serving in regions across Tennessee and will hold responsibility for state economic development efforts in Hamilton, Marion, Grundy, Sequatchie, Bledsoe, Rhea, Meigs, Bradley, McMinn and Polk counties.
The “jobs base camps” were created in April as part of Governor Haslam’s Jobs4TN initiative. In addition to serving as a “point-of-contact” for Tennessee companies seeking state services, Hazlewood will lead efforts to combine local economic development efforts into a single, cohesive strategic plan for the region, will identify and gather information about “shovel ready” sites in the region, will align local workforce development boards with state initiatives and will seek out additional sources of funding for economic development efforts in the region.
Additional information about the regional “jobs base camps” is available on the ECD web site at www.tn.gov/ecd.
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About the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s mission is to develop strategies which help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. The department seeks to attract new corporate investment in Tennessee and works with Tennessee companies to facilitate expansion and economic growth. To find out more, go to www.tn.gov/ecd.
Contact: Laura Elkins, ECD
Phone: (615) 532-1910
Email: laura.elkins@tn.gov