Ralph Schulz
Mayor John Cooper has decided not to put the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in the budget this year, which means the chamber will receive no funding from the city. This will be the first time in 33 years, according to the Nashville Business Journal, that the chamber will not receive funds from the city. Though this decision may be surprising for some, it doesn’t come as a surprise to everyone.
In May 2020, I wrote about how the mayor had cut the chamber’s funding in half, from $350,000 to $175,000. As the chamber receives funds for recruiting businesses to both our city and the surrounding area, it seemed odd that 46 companies moved to “our region,” but none of them to Davidson County. This brings the leadership of chamber president and CEO Ralph Schulz into question in terms of economic development. Despite Nashville’s incredible growth, the chamber has also downsized its office space and cut staff during Schulz’s tenure.
Late last year, I had a poll conducted within the business community. Fifty-eight percent of respondents gave Schulz a rating of 0 or 1 out of 10 for his leadership, and 44 percent disagreed with the chamber’s regional focus. The chamber’s focus should be more on Nashville.
This has not, however, been the most negative news related to the chamber and Schulz’s leadership in recent years.
A year ago, without consulting Mayor Cooper, the chamber was pushing legislation to give county mayors the power to take over school boards. This move seemed to have angered Mayor Cooper, who was blindsided by the chamber’s actions. Some speculated at that time that the mayor cut the chamber’s budget by 50 percent because of that move — and as I noted in a previous letter, “The relationship between the chamber and the city was, as Councilmember At-Large Bob Mendes put it, ‘likely at a 50-year low.’”
The Nashville Business Journal reported that when it comes to the contract between city and chamber, “the city and the chamber [should be] aligned and share a vision for growth.” But from all outward appearances, and perhaps despite best efforts by the mayor, such a vision does not seem to be shared.
Further, when the Metro Council voted against bringing the Republican National Convention to Nashville in 2024, GOP lawmakers became vengeful. As reported earlier this month by the Nashville Scene: “During the three-month session, the Tennessee General Assembly passed bills cutting the Metro Council in half, abolishing Nashville’s police oversight board, restricting funds related to the Music City Center, taking over seats on Nashville’s airport and sports boards and easing the path to a NASCAR-fueled overhaul at The Fairgrounds Nashville’s racetrack.” As reported by the Nashville Post, “the state has taken an even more aggressive stance toward Metro governance, and some local officials have chafed at the chamber’s absence from some of the debates.” They feel the chamber should have been much more supportive. “Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D-Nashville), who chairs the Nashville delegation in the state General Assembly,” reports the NBJ, “said he spent ‘an insane amount of time’ combatting state legislation aimed at Nashville — and said he could have used more help from the city’s business leaders.”
State representatives have been trying to take over leadership positions in Nashville, and rather than apologizing or stepping in to help out, Schulz has said the bill to cut the Metro Council in half “was not an issue for us to address, so they took no position on it.” Metro councilmembers work to advocate for Nashvillians across the city, but Schulz was apparently uninspired.
In the same NBJ article, Schulz essentially excused himself from not coming to the aid of business leaders — saying, effectively, if legislators are going to pass those laws (to disenfranchise and disempower Nashville’s leaders), they’re going to pass them, and the chamber could make recommendations after the fact. Way to fight for your fellow business leaders, Mr. Schulz.
In light of these and the more recent events, it’s not surprising that Mayor Cooper has decided not to include the chamber in the budget this year. If the chamber is not doing its part to help Nashville grow and thrive — and if chamber CEO Schulz, who is supposed to support our city’s business leaders, won’t step up — there’s little reason to pay out rewards.
Bill Freeman
Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post, and The News.
