MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Stuart McWhorter recently visited Middle Tennessee State University in one of his ongoing #McWhorterOnTheMove trips across Tennessee.
McWhorter explored MTSU’s cutting-edge research and workforce development in quantum science from Hanna Terletska, how the university is a national leader in Concrete Industry Management from program director Jon Huddleston and from College of Basic and Applied Sciences Dean Greg Van Patten during the commissioner’s two-hour visit Wednesday, March 26.
McWhorter and several staff members have been crisscrossing the state, visiting universities, high schools, industry and more in the quest to make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs.
To follow McWhorter on the move, go to the department’s Facebook page.
“We are going around the state visiting universities that are doing some really cool research partnerships with industry,” McWhorter said in a video on the department’s Facebook page.
“Our job in our department is to connect industry with the research and development assets in our state,” McWhorter said in a more recent video post. “We’re touring, hearing, listening, learning, and we’re getting that out to industry not only in the U.S., but globally.”
Regarding quantum science, McWhorter said MTSU’s “doing some fantastic work in quantum. They’re putting curriculum together with their researchers and faculty and students.
“They’re reaching across the state, working with lots of other partners to further their research (and) further the workforce development capabilities that is really going to be the future. It’s not just companies in quantum computing. It’s really all industry that is eventually going to be using quantum computing … to better their products and services in their business.”
After visiting the 90,000 square foot, $74.8 million School of Concrete and Construction Management Building that opened in 2022, McWhorter said “we love to see industry and research in collaboration with (academic) curriculum.”
“They (concrete industry) are partnering with industry and it’s letting the faculty and students learn what’s going on (with) cutting-edge trends, and (industry’s) hiring these students, so it’s working out great,” McWhorter said in the video. “At the concrete management facility, you see industry working with faculty and students on the next generation of concrete technology.”
Commissioner ‘extremely impressed’
Joe Bales, vice president for University Advancement, shared with MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee that McWhorter’s “visit was designed to provide the commissioner and ECD (Economic and Community Development)staff with a better understanding of the resources available in our education system to assist the state in economic development.”
“Most importantly, the commissioner was impressed with the leadership MTSU is showing in quantum science,” Bales added. “He recognized this is a critical area of need for the state and that our efforts could quickly position MTSU at the forefront of this emerging science.
“He (McWhorter) had several questions about funding and sustainability and commented that this was the kind of program the state needed to be investing in. Also, the commissioner was extremely impressed with how tightly associated we have our research programs with actual business needs and employment.
“Both Hanna and Jon did an outstanding job of connecting the work we have underway in our classrooms and labs with real business needs and the role universities play in driving economic development.”
Part of McWhorter’s visit to MTSU was connected to GovCon25 — the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development — Nov. 4-5 in Murfreesboro, to be hosted by the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce and to be held at Embassy Suites by Hilton near The Avenue in Murfreesboro.
“What made this visit a little different than other visits ECD has had with other state (and private) universities was the fact the conference will be in Murfreesboro this November and we have been asked by the Rutherford County Chamber to help sponsor it,” Bales said.
— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)
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