We have been seeing some uniquely negative headlines when it comes to our own Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. A recent headline from the Nashville Business Journal: “The chamber’s recruiting contract with Metro once seemed automatic. This year, it’s ‘weird.’ ” Another from The Tennessean: “Metro officials rebuke Nashville Chamber effort to give mayors control of struggling school districts.” And from WPLN: “Metro Council tells the chamber to knock off its efforts to give the mayor more power over schools.”
Are these the kind of headlines we ought to be seeing when it comes to our chamber of commerce?
The NBJ notes that, according to Councilmember Bob Mendes, the relationship between the chamber and the mayor’s office has sunk to “an all-time low … in the history of Metro” — and according to economic expert Angelos Angelou, when “the city and the chamber are not on the same page … economic development suffers.” Another NBJ story digging into Mayor John Cooper’s new budget — which is 12 percent larger than the last budget — notes that it provides only a one-year development contract with the chamber for $175,000. That’s lower than the value of the chamber’s first contract with Metro in the early 1990s. The lowest it’s been in 31 years.
The Tennessean notes that the Metro Council “rebuked” the chamber, validating the languishing relationship between chamber and city. Under the leadership of president and CEO Ralph Schulz, the chamber was pushing legislation to give county mayors the power to take over school boards with too many underperforming schools on their priority list. Metro Nashville Public Schools have 21 schools on the state’s 2019 priority school list. The Metro Council in their displeasure presented and passed a resolution by a 23-1 vote, asking the chamber for “immediate withdrawal of this legislation.” Eight of the councilmembers abstained from voting. Even if they support Mr. Schulz, the best they could offer was abstention.
This vote has ignited talk of concern about Ralph Schulz. Some of the chamber’s board members whom I’ve spoken with are not just embarrassed about the council vote, but also the fact that the mayor was not given a proper heads-up. You have to wonder about Schulz’s judgment. What would any of us expect to happen if we blindsided Mayor Cooper and his office?
This is an embarrassment for the chamber, its leadership, the city and, of course, Ralph Schulz. Things have been on a downhill slide for a while now at the chamber. The chamber’s website simply says the organization serves “more than 2,000” members. I remember in years past seeing specific numbers published, when the chamber had around 3,300 members. The organization has also downsized its office space and cut staff since Schulz has been at the helm. For 20 years, the chamber resided at 211 Commerce St. in the heart of downtown. In 2019, it moved to the Capitol View development along Charlotte Avenue. With a city that is bursting at the seams, our chamber shouldn’t have to cut staff and downsize.
In recent years, multiple outlets and polls have ranked Nashville among the top U.S. cities to move to. Our population is growing at a rate of 0.56 percent annually with more than 13 percent growth since the 2010 census. In March of last year, WKRN reported that Nashville was seeing record high construction permits, totaling $4.6 billion, and a few months later The Tennessean reported that Nashville “is first on the list of growing markets where investors want to park their cash.”
But despite the boom in both business and residential growth, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce is not keeping up. Instead, membership is falling. And this latest public faux pas could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back when it comes to a change of leadership. We need the relationship between the city and the chamber to be one of trust and solidarity.
John F. Kennedy has been quoted as saying, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” A person needs to continually learn and apply what they learn in order to be a strong leader. If one never applies what they’ve learned, they can hardly expect success — nor can they expect the respect of others. It would serve Mr. Schulz well to remember that fact.
Bill Freeman
Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post, and Home Page Media Group in Williamson County.
