TVA Today:
Daily news for employees

Wednesday, September 10, 2003

Chattanooga To Host Tennessee Valley Corridor Fall Summit
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp of Tennessee and Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker announced recently that the Fall 2003 Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit will be held in Chattanooga on Oct. 6-7 at The Chattanoogan Hotel.

Corker will chair the event, with Billie Queen, TVA’s Manager of Economic Development Field Operations, and SimCenter Director Dave Whitfield from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga co-chairing and leading a regional blue-ribbon steering committee helping plan it.

“TVA has been a sponsor and major supporter of the summit since its inception, and is pleased to have the opportunity to assist Chattanooga in showcasing the economic progress that has been made in the last several years,” Queen says. “The summit’s goal of identifying opportunities for continued job creation throughout the Valley aligns with TVA’s strategic objective of promoting sustainable economic development.”

The summit, with a theme of “Where Technology Meets the Marketplace,” will focus on how the Tennessee Valley as a region can best leverage its major regional institutions and their abundant science and technology assets for maximum private-sector job creation.

Invited speakers include Tennessee U.S. Sens. Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander, Gov. Phil Bredesen, TVA Director Bill Baxter and Iceland’s Ambassador to the United States, Helgi Agustsson.

Wamp, who founded this ongoing series of technology summits in 1995, says it will bring top business, government, education and technology leaders together to see the growth and progress in Chattanooga in recent years.

“It has been seven years since Chattanooga last hosted this regional economic summit,” he says. “There couldn’t be a more appropriate time than now for Chattanooga to host this special event, with all of the recent technological advances we have made and the work we are doing to position ourselves as a real technology hub for the Tennessee Valley Corridor.”

Mayor Corker says Chattanooga’s location midway between several major research-and-development partners makes it an ideal hub for the Tennessee Valley’s technology corridor.

“During the summit, we are looking forward to meeting and hearing from these partners, and working together to create strategies that take advantage of our proximity and lead to the creation of new businesses and jobs which raise the standard of living for all of our citizens,” Corker says.

Chattanooga’s new SimCenter at UTC is a graduate education-and-research program in computational engineering.

“High-speed computers and computational engineering are the frontiers, and the SimCenter will help Chattanooga be on the cutting edge of new technology research, while advancing the curriculum at our major research institution,” SimCenter Director Whitfield says.

Energy security and cleaner transportation technologies also will be discussed during the summit. Chattanooga, home to the Advanced Transportation Technology Institute, is leading the way in the research and development of advanced forms of transportation and cleaner fuels. And in June, Wamp received the national Congressional Energy Leadership Award for his legislative success in encouraging energy-efficiency gains.

“The U.S. needs to focus on becoming a world leader in energy efficiency and security, and this region is working to answer that call,” Wamp says.

Previous summits have been held in Oak Ridge, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, Tullahoma and the Tri-Cities in Tennessee; in Huntsville, Ala.; and in Washington D.C.

Under the leadership of the Tennessee Valley’s congressional delegation, the Corridor Summit Board and regionally based summit coordinating committees, the summits have become the vehicles for monitoring the Valley’s new regional economic-development initiatives and identifying priorities and opportunities for continued job creation throughout the Valley

For more information on the Tennessee Valley Corridor 2003 Summit in Chattanooga, visit http://www.tennvalleycorridor.org.

September Inside TVA Has TVA’s Reactions to Northeast Blackout
The September Inside TVA is now available at most regular distribution stations throughout TVA. It will be posted online later today in its new PDF format at http://www.tva.com/insidetva/. (See item below for more about the PDF format.)

The September issue includes these and other news stories and features:

• Part 4 of TVA’s Business Education Series – “Serving TVA’s Customers.”
• A report on how the Northeast blackout of Aug. 14 affected – and, more importantly, did not affect – TVA and the Tennessee Valley.
• Coverage of the TVA Board’s approval of a rate increase.
• An in-depth look at water quantity and how TVA makes sure there’s enough water to supply a multitude of varied needs.
• Articles on Winning Performance, the Cultural Health Index, Materials Standardization and “Sqwincher,” COO Peer Teams, Integrated Performance Management and more.

Online Inside TVA Published in PDF Format
The online version of Inside TVA, available later today at http://www.tva.com/insidetva, is being published for the first time in PDF format.

Online readers will have the opportunity to view the pages exactly as they appear in the print version, but with full-color photography. Note: To save time, readers should open the pages one by one, rather than downloading the entire issue.

Additional text and photos not in the print version will continue to be included in the online issue, as appropriate. In this issue, for example, an extended version of the chart on the House and Senate versions of the Energy Bill is an “Online Extra,” as is an expanded version of the story on the TVA Board’s approval of a rate increase for fiscal year 2004.

The online issue includes a survey asking for feedback on Inside TVA coverage. Complete “Tell us what you think…” and help Internal Communications learn what news coverage is most important to you.

Sept. 11 – A Day of Remembrance and Community Service
Employees at several TVA sites across the Tennessee Valley tomorrow will commemorate Patriot Day – a day of remembrance for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States – in various ways. Many employees plan to observe a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. EDT, as encouraged by a presidential proclamation http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/09/20030904-7.html.

The proclamation also calls for the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff at government facilities, as well as at the homes of Americans who display the flag, to honor those who lost their lives on Sept. 11 two years ago.

The following activities and observances are planned for Chattanooga, Kingston and Knoxville:

Chattanooga – An employee-led observance at the Chattanooga Office Complex will include music and prayer from noon-12:30 p.m. Thursday in the courtyard between Monteagle Place and Signal Place.

Kingston Fossil Plant – Plant employees are volunteering their time at Henry Center in Harriman today and at Pathways Community Center on Thursday.

Knoxville – Team TVA volunteers will participate in United Way Day of Caring projects on Thursday. (For more information, call Robin Robinson at 632-7119 or e-mail her.)

A food and clothing drive will be held on the Plaza between the TVA towers from 7-10 a. m. The clothing is being collected for boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 18 in local group homes and for low-income women who need professional attire.

The clothing will be distributed by two nonprofit organizations, Child & Family Services and Career Closet. The food is being collected for the Salvation Army. Needed food items: Peanut butter, tuna and other canned meats, canned vegetables and fruits, macaroni-and-cheese packages, soups. Needed clothing: Clothes for boys and girls ages 10-18; professional attire for women.

Also, the Tanasi Girl Scout Camp in Andersonville, Tenn., has been chosen as a TVA Day of Caring site. Employees will help with a variety of chores, including painting the exterior buildings on the campsite.

Kickoff of Chattanooga Area CFC Effort
TVA and other federal agencies in the Chattanooga area yesterday kicked off the 2003 Greater Chattanooga Area Combined Federal Campaign. The campaign’s goal is to raise more than $1.5 million for local and national charitable agencies.

The CFC kickoff began with a breakfast at the Chattanooga/Hamilton County Convention & Trade Center. In keeping with the CFC theme “Caring for Communities,” Pete Van Dusen, a Cleveland firefighter and emergency medical technician, spoke about the support and care community agencies provided him and his family during his stepson’s battle with brain cancer.

About 350 officials and campaign workers representing more than 90 area federal agencies attended the breakfast and were entertained by the musical group, Fire, which is made up of Chattanooga firefighters.

The fair, held later in the day, included fun, prizes, refreshments and an opportunity for CFC-supported agencies to showcase their services.