I recently read that Murfreesboro has been nationally recognized as a great place to raise a family. That’s nothing new to me. I tell my friends in other parts of the state and the country that there is no utopia on planet earth, but that Murfreesboro and Rutherford County are pretty close.
I remember hearing someone say that Murfreesboro is the “dimple of the universe.” Years ago, when I was with the Chamber of Commerce and doing quite a bit of public speaking, there was a standard line that I’d use. Murfreesboro is the Heart of Tennessee; the exact geographic center of the state and also the heart of Southern hospitality.
While the chamber cannot claim exclusivity for the idea, “Heart of Tennessee,” we adopted it as the official logo and marketing tool for the community several years ago. We heard business leaders talk about the network of Interstate highways in the area, the fact that we’re within a one-day drive from three-fourths of the United States population, and that there is a perception that we folks in the Volunteer State are friendly.
The Chamber of Commerce did a survey with business leaders whose plants and companies are located here. We asked why they invested in Rutherford County. The answers ranged from cost of doing business, available workforce, education, and location, location, location. We also surveyed visitors for one month that stopped at such places as Oaklands Mansion and the Sam Davis Home. Those responses ranged from history to our geographic location. With those surveys in hand, we then officially adopted the theme and the logo, “Heart of Tennessee”.
While I am reminiscing, my mind goes back to about 1990 when the University of Tennessee did a report on the most-livable cities in Tennessee; Murfreesboro for medium size; Franklin for small and Nashville as the most livable large city. I learned about the results and called the person in charge at UT, getting permission to write an article for the Chamber newsletter. The Daily News Journal picked up the article after it was published in the Chamber newsletter. The Associated Press sent it statewide. As a result, a newspaper in West Tennessee published the article because a city there was high on the list of the most-livable.
Then something interesting happened. A producer in New York City with the national Public Broadcast program, “Adam Smith’s Money World,” read the article in her hometown newspaper from West Tennessee.
She called me and said that they wanted to visit Murfreesboro and interview people from the heart of America, rather than someone on Wall Street or Washington, DC, to get thoughts on timely subjects such as the economy, education and health care.
The City Café was transformed into a remote studio for the PBS syndicated show, which at the time was broadcast by 250 television stations in America, and was the winner of four Emmy Awards. I was proud to see Andrea Loughry, Mike Pirtle, Rep. John Bragg, Ted LaRoche and Mike Broll (then manager of the Pillsbury plant) respond to the questions posed by Jerry Goodman, the host and editor-in-chief.
I find it interesting how one event or situation perpetuates many others. For example, by Murfreesboro being named one of the most-livable cities in Tennessee, newspapers and a wire service in the state picked up on the report. The lady in New York with the PBS program read her hometown newspaper and then called our Chamber of Commerce. From there, the stage was set for producing the show at the City Café. Murfreesboro was then showcased on PBS television throughout America and even some other parts of the world. |
Email
Print
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo!