Join us on Friday, February 17, 2023, to hear from from U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, plus an update on the Downtown/Wilson Street Private Development Projects featuring Wayne Blasius, Wright Makers LLC, Cappiello Real Estate, and Burns & McDonnell.

This meeting is open for both in-person and virtual attendees who are ETEC members and their guests.

No registration is necessary for in-person attendance.

Click here to register for the VIRTUAL meeting:
https://tennessee.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtc-qgqDIrH9e0tp893v3QCGKm6rMIuBE5

We welcome our members and guests to attend the ETEC meetings in person. It is the best way to connect, or re-connect, with friends, colleagues, and potential business opportunities. Visit the Contact page for the meeting location, address, and map.

For more information about ETEC’s weekly meetings, click here.

U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann

Congressman Chuck Fleischmann is a conservative Republican who represents the 3rd District of Tennessee. The District is comprised of 11 counties: Anderson, Bradley, Campbell, Hamilton, McMinn, Monroe, Morgan, Polk, Roane, Scott and Union.  Chuck earned his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Illinois. He received both Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude honors. He then went to the University of Tennessee law school where he received his Doctor of Jurisprudence.  For 24 years Chuck and his wife ran a small business together in Chattanooga after they both graduated from law school at the University of Tennessee.  Chuck has served on the board of the National Craniofacial Association and on the board of the Cherokee Area Council of Boy Scouts of America. He has also served as the president of the Chattanooga Bar Association and chairman of the Chattanooga Lawyers Pro Bono Committee.  Since taking office, Chuck has a 100% pro-life voting record and continues to support legislation that  protects the Second Amendment rights of East Tennesseans.

Chuck serves on the Appropriations Committee which is vitally important to the residents of the 3rd District.  In the 118th Congress, Chuck was named Chairman of the House Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee.  He also serves on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittees of the Appropriations Committee.

Chuck’s role as Chair of the Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies subcommittee allows him to fight for funding for the Chickamauga Lock, a key East Tennessee infrastructure project. In addition, this subcommittee assignment is of paramount importance to the northern region of the Third District which is home to Oak Ridge National Lab, Y-12 National Security Complex, and a large environmental cleanup mission, all of which rely on funds appropriated by this subcommittee.

Chuck and his wife, Brenda, live in Ooltewah, Tennessee and have three boys: Chuckie, Jamie and Jeffrey.

Wayne Blasius – Director of Planning and Development for the City of Oak Ridge

Wayne Blasius joins the City of Oak Ridge from his position as Executive Director of the non-profit East Tennessee Community Design Center. Previously, Mr. Blasius served as President of the InSite Development Corporation in Knoxville from 2001 to 2015. He also consulted on energy management, infrastructure and sustainability matters for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and served as Deputy Director of the City of Knoxville’s Department of Community Development. Mr. Blasius received his Master of Science in Planning from the University of Tennessee.

Wayne grew up in the Chicago suburbs before adopting East Tennessee as his home in 1977. Prior to his appointment with the City of Oak Ridge in September 2017, he led the East Tennessee Community Design Center from 2014-17; an organization he had served as a volunteer on and off over three decades.  He had previously founded InSite Development Corporation in 2001, a real estate development/management firm that completed major downtown Knoxville historic rehabs such as the Phoenix and Mast General Store/Gallery Lofts. InSite also provided consulting services for Oak Ridge National Lab.  Earlier in his career, Blasius served as supervising planner at MPC and Deputy Community Development Director for the City of Knoxville.  In 1996, he left the City to join Denark Construction as Vice President/Business Development.  Blasius earned a bachelor’s degree in economics (with emphasis in environmental studies) from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and a master of science in urban planning from UT-Knoxville. He received his Tennessee Real Estate license in 2007.

Community involvement is a strongly-held value for him. He has held board chairmanships with the Knoxville Central Business Improvement District, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, and Good Shepherd Counseling Center; and board memberships with Leadership Knoxville (including serving as chair of the Introduction Knoxville program committee), Knox Heritage, Oak Ridge Fund for Achieving Community Excellence, Nine Counties One Vision Downtown Plan Task Force, Knoxville Chamber  Executive Committee, Pellissippi State Technical College President’s Associates, Knox Housing Partnership Board; and as Dogwood Arts Festival Parade Co-chair.  Blasius has previously held memberships with the American Planning Association, Tennessee-American Planning Association, the Urban Land Institute, and the American Institute of Certified Planners.  He currently serves as Chairman of the regional Transportation Planning Organization Technical Committee.

In January 2019, Blasius was honored to join the board of the Oak Ridge Fund for Achieving Community Excellence (ORFACE), founded in 2017 by Pat Postma.  He completed restoration of a 1920s craftsman bungalow in Old North Knoxville, owns a mid-century modern home on W. Outer Drive in Oak Ridge, and continues to dabble with investment restorations.

He raised four children in Knoxville and began welcoming a string of grandchildren in 2017!

Philip Voegtle – Oak Ridge Branch Office Leader and Project Manager with Burns and McDonnell

Mr. Voegtle is the office manager for Burns & McDonnell’s engineering, architecture, and construction operations in Oak Ridge, TN.  He has 35 years of experience as a project manager and lead structural engineer in the Nuclear, DOE, municipal, commercial, and industrial market segments.  His structural engineering functions have included a variety of material handling facilities, custom mechanical equipment designs, nuclear containments, buildings, piping systems, bridges, and foundations.  He has served as the lead structural engineer on several multi-billion-dollar nuclear laboratory facilities for the DOE including the Mixed Oxide Fabrication Facility at Savannah River Site; Uranium Processing Facility (UPF) at Y-12; Chemistry Metallurgy Research Replacement Facility (CMRR) at Los Alamos; Uranium Enrichment Facility for a confidential client, and the Spent Fuel Handling Facility (SFHP) at the Idaho National Lab.  Currently, he is the project manager for the ORNL $2B Second Target Station, Target and Instrument Building, and the program wide lead structural engineer for the project.

Josh Wright – President, Machinations, Architects Wright, Wright Makers, LLC

Jessica and Josh Wright have spent the last 20 years together developing, designing and building transformational projects. Their company Machinations encompasses of their skills and talent into a full service firm. As a licensed architect and licensed contractor they understand the balance that is required to deliver economically and architecturally successful projects. They have designed and developed projects in cities all over the United States and have won multiple industry and professional awards for their work. They believe that thoughtful design balances our community’s needs with the risks of development creating sustainably vibrant downtowns and vertical neighborhoods.

Josh has served as President of the American Institute of Architects of East Tennessee chapter, as a board member of the East Tennessee Community Design Center, and as chair of Knoxville’s Design Review Board. Jessica Wright has served on the Emerging Professionals board of the American Institute of Architects East Tennessee chapter, as a  Tennessee Achieves mentor to local Knoxville high school students, an academic advisor to undergraduate architectural students at the University of Tennessee, and part of the student committee for the review and selection of the Dean of Architecture.