Chattanooga Chamber’s Volkswagen Team Bringing VW and the Community Together

A former airline lobbyist, an economic development specialist and a German-speaking marketing major are combining their skills to form the Chattanooga Chamber’s Volkswagen Team.

The Volkswagen Team is a special unit of the Chamber, established to act as a conduit of information between the local community and Volkswagen officials.

"From the start of the Volkswagen recruitment process, the Chamber had the honor of being the company’s one-stop point of contact for all local information and resources," says Chamber President and CEO Tom Edd Wilson. "Now, as part of our commitment to Volkswagen and our business community, we have established an office where we will handle local inquiries and disseminate information. At the same time, we will work with Volkswagen to resolve issues related to the site and support their efforts to locate suppliers."

Wilson expressed thanks to the private companies that have contributed additional funding to make the launch of the Chamber’s Volkswagen Team possible. "As they did every time we have called on them to promote greater prosperity here, some of Chattanooga’s leading businesses are stepping forward to give the Chamber the resources to carry on this essential work," he said.

Trevor Hamilton will lead the team in his capacity as the Chamber’s vice president of economic development. According to Hamilton, the initiative aims to maximize Volkswagen’s local economic impact. "Our community can only achieve its job creation goals from this project by partnering to help make Volkswagen successful in the U.S.," Hamilton said. "At the same time, the Chamber’s Volkswagen Team is working hard to help Volkswagen connect with local contractors and

suppliers."

Operating as a division of the Chamber’s economic development department, the team represents a partnership between the state and the Chamber. Besides Hamilton, the Chamber’s Volkswagen Team will consist of Scott Cooper, Chrissy Nolan, and Blake Poole, who works for the state as special assistant to Matt Kisber, commissioner of economic and community development.

The group’s offices are located in the Chestnut Tower building at 605 Chestnut Street, where Volkswagen has established a temporary office space while their new facilities at Enterprise South are under construction.

Poole, who has almost 30 years experience as a lobbyist for Delta Air Lines, is a veteran at working with business people, community leaders and politicians. He holds a degree in political science from Furman University.

Cooper is leaving the state as job development specialist to work for the Chamber’s Volkswagen Team as economic development specialist. He holds a B.A. degree in mass communication from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Nolan, who will serve as special assistant to the Chamber’s Volkswagen Team, received a degree in marketing with a minor in German from the University of Georgia. Her experiences in an exchange program with a German family during high school and her study in Austria during college make her a valuable resource for the Volkswagen Team.

To contact the Volkswagen Team call (423) 763-4373 or email VolkswagenTeam@chattanoogachamber.com. The Volkswagen Team web site is www.chattanoogachamber.com/VolkswagenTeam.asp.