Dell Inc.'s Frank Miller

Nashville-based Frank Miller, Lt. Gen., USA (Ret.), leads nearly 5,000 Dell employees in his role as vice president-Americas Fulfillment operations, with centers in Nashville, Austin, Reno nd Ohio, in addition to operational responsibilities in support of Dell manufacturing in nearby Lebanon.  Miller said that he believes Dell has done a good job in its community outreach in middle Tennessee, "but, it's been in silos," leaving him to believe that Dell has an opportunity to convey to esidents of the region a "more holistic picture" of Dell's mission, community service and philanthropy, with emphasis on improvement of K-12 education. He stressed his belief that Dell has ultivated "a pretty inclusive culture" within the company, and Dell aims to share with communities lessons it has learned about the value and practice of diversity.  Miller was reared in Kansas joined the U.S. Army as a Private in 1965 and retired a much-decorated major general, 32 years later. His military service included tours in wartime Vietnam and in South Korea. Miller holds a Bachelor’s in business (U. Wash.) and a Master's  in systems management (Troy State). He is married to the former Paulette C. Duncan of Tacoma.  They have three children, four grandchildren and reside in Hendersonville. Related story, NashvillePost.com, April 4.

Backgrounder:  Waiting on 'Innovation Tennessee'

Even though there's widespread belief that Tennessee Economic and Community Development (ECD) Technology Director Eric Cromwell will soon leave the agency to head up a program dubbed, "Innovation Tennessee," to promote high-growth jobs, there's been no official word on this or related plans. So, folks are reduced to reading tea leaves, extrapolating from news rickling out through unofficial sources.

This week, for example, a national report on the states' life-sciences initiatives was released during a meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), in Chicago. The report said that Innovation Tennessee, which has not been formally unveiled, will be tasked with promoting the state's bioscience resources.

At the same time, a freshly minted promotional brochure from ECD explains:  "Tennessee's focus on technology development will continue in 2006 with the rollout of a program called Innovation Tennessee (a new entity under development to replace the former [Tennessee] Technology Development Corporation). The goal of Innovation Tennessee is to create high skill, high wage jobs in sustainable industries and to retain Tennessee's existing technology jobs. The program will be a public/private collaboration to build innovation capacity in all regions of the state and to streamline the process of taking ideas from the laboratory to the marketplace, creating a linked circle between those who conduct research and development, those who provide the capital to fund it and those corporations whose focus is making an innovative product a reality."

"The "Playbook" also stresses that Tennessee needs more broadband infrastructure in both urban and rural areas, if it is to compete to attract high-growth jobs.  Toward that end, says the publication, a new "Tennessee Community Broadband Stimulus Program" will be launched by ECD to help communities gain access to planning grant funds for broadband deployment.  ECD is currently surveying industry and other groups in the state, asking their views on the adequacy of current broadband resources, in hope of bolstering the case for funding investment in broadband infrastructure. One version of the survey is prefaced: "The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development is developing a new program to catalyze action around broadband deployment and adoption in all regions of Tennessee..."

Meanwhile, and perhaps most important, there is still no sign of the recommendations that are expected "soon" from New Economy Strategies (NES), the Washington, D.C., consultants who were hired a year ago by Tennessee Technology Development Corporation (TTDC) to produce a roadmap for development of high-growth industries in Tennessee.

Cyberspecialists warn the clock is ticking:  More than a year ago, a group of Tennessee's cyberinfrastructure experts warned Tennessee's growth and quality of life hinge partly on development of needed cyberinfrastructure.  The group added that the state's "window of opportunity is open, but will close very soon. The availability of low-cost fiber assets is limited and will disappear in the near future. The time to act is now."

Since Cromwell's appointment by Gov. Phil Bredesen in 2004, efforts to accelerate high-growth sectors seem to have been grounded in more research, more consultation and more local, regional and national expertise than in earlier administrations. Timing means a lot, and the case has been made regarding that "window of opportunity," albeit an opportunity for every state in the Union.

Ultimately, the "Innovation Tennessee" initiative could help stitch together not only broadband infrastructure; but, also, supercomputing and life sciences resources; regional technology councils and associations; Oak Ridge National Lab and University of Tennessee resources; and, incubators like Emerge Memphis, which is led by Jim Phillips, who is Cromwell's former boss at the FedEx Institute of Technology.  Why the hold-up?  No clear official answer, but it seems inevitable that Commisioner Kisber must wait to roll-out new programs until he learns the fate of his budget request,  which includes a $12.6 million payroll and $5.7 million for operations, in addition to about $78 million in pass-through funds for grants for infrastructure and related items. — Milt Capps