The East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC) is now accepting nominations for the 2022 Muddy Boot Award and Postma Young Professional Medal. These honors will be awarded at the ETEC Annual Meeting and Awards Celebration in December.
More than 200 people turned out yesterday for the “Nuclear Opportunities Workshop” organized by the East Tennessee Economic Council with sponsorship support from a number of organizations that have a stake in the region’s long-standing place in the sector and the nuclear renaissance that is occurring.
Judging by the turnout – a record of more than 200 people at the all-day program, interest in nuclear power is clearly a “top of mind” item for many in a region with a long and well-known legacy in the nuclear sector as well as a strong footprint in the future in areas like advanced reactor technologies, next-gen reactor designs, and fusion power.
The East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC) is hosting its fourth in-person nuclear opportunities conference on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. This day-long conference will focus on supply, technical, production, and workforce-related opportunities in the nuclear industry. Registration is open and available until July 28, 2022. Panel discussion topics include advanced reactors, nuclear fuels, radioisotopes, and the workforce needed to make all of these efforts successful.
Three ETEC members were honored over the last week for a variety of accomplishments.
It all started with a committee. That’s probably how it ends too, but let’s wait a minute for that. Roy Pruett, a friend and former Mayor of Oak Ridge, chaired the meeting. I had just been a part of his retirement roast, and wasn’t totally sure he was still a friend. Joe Lenhard, retired from the Department of Energy, was full of energy. Joe would be the chair of ETEC after Mayor Pruett and was the strongest proponent of Oak Ridge until his dying days. Also around the table was former ORNL Director Herman Postma, my old boss and Oak Ridger newspaper owner Tom Hill, entrepreneur Pete Craven, then Oak Ridge Chamber President Tom Rogers, and business owner Ben Adams (whose wife worked for me at The Oak Ridger). I knew them all, and all of them were a lot smarter than me.
The East Tennessee Economic Council presented Muddy Boot Awards last Friday to Tennessee State Senator Ken Yager and Robert S. Eby, P.E. at a special edition of ETEC’s Friday morning meeting. Both of these deserving honorees have impressive resumes of service in East Tennessee and a passion for education. The Muddy Boot Award was created in the 1970s to honor individuals who have gone above the call of duty—like those who served the nation during the Manhattan Project—to make the community, the state of Tennessee, and the nation a better place to live and work.
Jim Campbell has nothing but an optimistic outlook for the Oak Ridge region as he prepares to step down in days after a more than 26-year career as President of the East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC). As noted in an earlier article in this series, he says, “This community is well-positioned to compete for new (federal) missions.” That was not the case at the time that Campbell started his ETEC role, but it is today, thanks to investments in the federal facilities along with strong performance by those contractors who were charged with delivering results.
Leaders with impressive resumes of service in East Tennessee were honored with the Muddy Boot Award and Postma Young Professional Medal by the East Tennessee Economic Council at its 2021 annual year-end celebration today, delayed this year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
After 26 years leading an organization that meets about 45 Friday mornings a year at 7:30 a.m. in Oak Ridge, Jim Campbell has decided to retire as President of the East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC). The announcement of his retirement, effective at the end of March, and the selection of current ETEC Vice President Tracy Boatner as his successor was made December 10 during ETEC’s last Friday morning meeting of 2021.
