We had a very full day yesterday that was blanketed with snow and several visits in Springfield and Clarksville. The snow was absolutely beautiful, but made the drive in to a little perilous. Thankfully, the food didn’t disappoint and the people were so welcoming and supportive of my plan for Tennessee. I really appreciate everyone braving the weather and slick roads to join us at Tricia’s!
After breakfast, we jumped on Tennessee 49 and headed to Orlinda where we stopped by the Gammon Family Dairy for a tour. The Gammon family has been in the Grade A dairy business since the 70s and just recently started to bottle the milk they produce. What’s unique about their milk is the fact that it’s all natural and does not include any hormones, steroids, or antibiotics. After a great visit with the Gammon family we headed towards Clarksville.
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- Breakfast at Tricia’s on the Square
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- At the Gammon Family Dairy
Once in Clarksville I met with a dozen or so veterans and had a chance to hear their concerns about the direction our state is headed. Almost all of these brave veterans had spent some time at Fort Campbell (which is just north of where we met on the Tennessee-Kentucky line). A common theme of our conversation was the unique bond between Clarksville and Fort Campbell. According to these veterans, Clarksville is a very tight-knit community that goes above and beyond in their support of military families.
After a great visit with the veterans we switched gears a bit and headed to a local business where we discussed economic development. The first group I met with had experience across many industries, but shared the common goal of continuing to improve the Clarksville economy. The second economic development meeting shared a lot of the same themes as the first, but from the perspective of a small business. Thankfully, Clarksville has weathered the economic downturn quite well and is on the path to further job growth with the Hemlock Semiconductor announcement.
We wrapped up our busy day campaigning with a knocking tour of the Hilldale neighborhood and then headed to a meet and greet at Austin Peay State University. The number one concern for people that we met during our neighborhood knock and the meet and greet was jobs. I had a chance to share my plan for bringing high quality jobs to Tennessee which seemed to resonate well the group.
I look forward to hearing from more Tennesseans during my state-wide jobs tour in early March.
