Governor Phil Bredesen

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen spoke today at the Knoxville Chamber's
bi-annual Governor's Luncheon at the Knoxville Convention Center. He discussed issues facing the state - most notably education and workforce development.

"There are still many, many things to do, but [Tennessee schools are] moving up the rankings and doing better," Bredesen said to the crowd of about 600 business and community leaders.

Teachers are what Bredesen most acknowledges as the deciding factor between a positive and negative educational experience. He said that we need to hire great teachers and use innovative recruiting methods to make sure the best faculty teach the youth.

One of the methods that he discussed was recruiting people experiencing a career change - like ex-military or recent retirees - who have great life experience to become teachers. He said that through various programs these people can expedite the process of certification and undergo mentoring programs while teaching.

The Governor also said that the general softening of the United States economic has played a part in his annual budget, but that it was not necessarily a negative.

He said that some of his more positive business and political decisions have been made during tougher economic situations, where he had to be more creative and think about which programs and activities to prioritize.

"The business cycle won't go away. When I was a private-sector CEO, I managed my business better during the lean times," Bredesen said. He later noted that, "I think we're going to rise to the situation just fine."

During a question-and-answer section, Governor Bredesen also spoke highly of the biofuels initiatives evident across the state, of which local programs such as those at the University of Tennessee are playing a large part.

The Governor's Luncheon was co-sponsored by Alcoa, Inc. and Aqua-Chem, Inc.