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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251106T171000
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DTSTAMP:20260430T002427
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SUMMARY:Leading through Partnership: Tennessee’s Strategy for Global Investment
DESCRIPTION:  \nThis event is sold out\n \nLeading through Partnership: Tennessee’s Strategy for Global Investment\nJoin TNECD Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter on November 6 as he delivers the keynote address for the Tennessee World Affairs Council Distinguished Speaker Series. He will highlight how Tennessee’s focus on building strong\, long-term relationships has made it a trusted partner for global companies for decades. With more than 1\,000 international businesses operating in the state\, these global brands are not only a testament to Tennessee’s welcoming business climate—they are among its strongest selling points in attracting new investment. Through the keynote address\, attendees will gain a better understanding of how the state’s commitment to partnership\, connectivity\, and a personalized approach continues to set Tennessee apart on the global stage. \nThursday\, November 6th I 11:10 am – 1:00 pm\n* Luncheon Event *\nVenue: \n \n1221 Broadway\, Suite 1300 \nNashville\, TN 37203 \n  \n  \n\n \nSpeaker: Stuart McWhorter (Commissioner\, Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development)\nStuart C. McWhorter has served as TNECD commissioner since July 2022. During his tenure\, TNECD has nearly 120 projects\, which represent more than 17\,000 job commitments and $9.7 billion in capital investment. Of those projects\, more than 28 percent were the result of foreign direct investment. \nMcWhorter has a diverse background in entrepreneurship\, corporate finance\, and strategic planning. He served as co-founder and chairman of Clayton Associates with over 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship and early-stage investing. \nMcWhorter stepped away from Clayton Associates in 2019 to join Governor Lee’s administration as Commissioner of the Department of Finance and Administration. He led the drafting of two fiscal year state budgets\, co-chaired the Governor’s Healthcare Modernization Task Force\, and was appointed director of the Tennessee Unified Command Group to coordinate the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. \nIn addition\, McWhorter previously served as the CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and chairman of the Board of Directors of Nashville-based FirstBank Financial Corporation (NYSE: FBK). He received his Master of Health Administration from The University of Alabama-Birmingham and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Clemson University. \nMcWhorter resides in Nashville with his wife\, Leigh Anne\, and their five children. \n  \n 
URL:https://www.tnwac.org/event/leading-through-partnership-tennessees-strategy-for-global-investment/
LOCATION:First Bank\, 1221 Broadway\, Suite 1300\, Nashville\, 37203\, United States
CATEGORIES:Distinguished Speaker Series
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20251112T170000
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DTSTAMP:20260430T002427
CREATED:20250930T153143Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251117T173637Z
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SUMMARY:U.S. and Japan: Allies in Security\, Partners in Economic Prosperity
DESCRIPTION:U.S. and Japan: Allies in Security\, Partners in Economic Prosperity\nThe Tennessee World Affairs Council\, in partnership with the University of Tennessee Knoxville\, is hosting a panel discussion about Japan and its close relationship with the US. Panelists from Kobe University in Japan and the Hudson Institute in Washington\, DC will discuss the longstanding alliance between the US and Japan\, geopolitical and security challenges in the region faced by both countries\, and the strong economic relationship between these two great powers due to trade and Japanese investment in the US\, especially in Tennessee. \nWednesday\, November 12\, 2025 I 11:00am-1:00pm\n* Luncheon Event *\nVenue: \n \n21 Platform Way South – 23rd FloorNashville\, TN 37203 \n  \n– \n\nOpening Remarks: Mr. WATANABE Shinji (Consul-General of Japan in Nashville)\n \nWatanabe Shinji assumed his post as Consul-General of Japan in Nashville in April 2024. This is his second diplomatic assignment in the United States\, following his first assignment at the Consulate-General in Denver\, Colorado. Trained in the Swedish language\, he has also served at the Embassy of Japan in Sweden on three occasions\, with his most recent assignment being the Deputy Chief of Mission. \nPrior to his assignment as Consul-General\, he worked as the Director of Exchange Programs Division\, Minister’s Secretariat\, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan from February 2021. The division is responsible for policies on people-to-people exchanges including the Fulbright Program\, JET Programs\, and sports exchanges. Since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1987\, Consul-General Watanabe has held various positions in fields such as international cooperation\, public relations\, and international exchange. \nConsul-General Watanabe was born in Fukuoka\, Japan. He graduated from Doshisha University in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. He also studied at Uppsala University in Sweden from 1989 to 1990. Consul-General Watanabe is married with two adult children. \nModerator: Andrew McDermott (Founder\, Mission Value Partners LLC)\n \nAndrew was born and raised in Memphis\, TN. After graduating from Princeton with a degree in history\, he joined NEC Logistics in Tokyo in 1992. In 1994 he fell into a finance career courtesy of JPMorgan\, where he worked on deals ranging from Chinese infrastructure finance to venture capital to tech IPOs in Hong Kong\, New York\, Singapore and San Francisco. He joined Southeastern Asset Management in 1998 and helped lead its international business until 2009 from Memphis\, Tokyo and London. In 2010\, he founded Mission Value Partners\, a Japan-focused investment firm\, in Sonoma\, CA and returned to Tennessee in 2021. His Tokyo-based partner\, Yohei Yamada\, spent six years in Maryville\, TN before returning to Japan to attend college at Keio University and pursue his PhD in Computational Neuroscience at the University of Tokyo. His essay “Let’s talk about Japan Hard Power: Japan’s industrial power-base: under discussed\, under appreciated\, undervalued\,” can be found on the Japan Optimist substack. He has contributed to the Asia-Law Institute’s Nippon Steel symposium and participated in numerous events dedicated to combining the best of the US and Japanese systems\, using Tennessee as a model of co-operation. Andrew currently resides in Nashville with his wife Kelly and four children. He enjoys rock climbing and fishing in the Smoky Mountains. \nPanelist: Dr. William Chou (Senior Fellow & Deputy Director\, Japan Chair\, Hudson Institute)\n \nWilliam Chou is a senior fellow and deputy director of Hudson Institute’s Japan Chair. His work at Hudson focuses on US-Japan/Indo-Pacific relations\, with an emphasis on economic security\, trade and investment\, and regional partnerships. Recent projects include the Nippon Steel-US Steel partnership\, critical mineral supply chains\, trilateral US-Japan-EU economic security cooperation\, and US-Japan energy partnerships with Southeast Asia.Dr. Chou writes and speaks regularly on policy issues\, with his writing and analysis appearing in publications such as The Wall Street Journal\, Bloomberg\, Politico\, The Washington Post\, Nikkei\, The New York Times\, and the Financial Times.He holds a BA in history from Yale and a PhD in history from The Ohio State University\, with a dissertation on Cold War US-Japan commercial and diplomatic relations. He is a former fellow at the Smithsonian\, the Clements Center at UT-Austin\, and the University of Tokyo. He got his start as a research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses during the Iraq War.A native New Yorker\, Dr. Chou is a former Jeopardy! champion. \nPanelist: Dr. Tosh Minohara (Professor of International Relations & Security Studies\, Kobe University)\n \nDr. Tosh Minohara is Professor of Ko\, where he holds a joint appointment with the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies. He received his B.A. in International Relations from the University of California\, Davis\, and his Ph.D. in Political and Diplomatic History from Kobe University. He is the founder and chairman of the Research Institute of Indo-Pacific Affairs (RIIPA)\, a nonprofit organization certified by the Cabinet Office. He is also a senior advisor to KREAB Japan and the National Security Group of the Global Tekijuku\, as well as a member of the Kansai Association of Corporate Executives (Kansai Keizai Doyukai). In addition\, he was formerly an external advisor to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA)\, lecturer at both the Japan Maritime and Air Self-Defense Force (JMSDF/JASDF) Command and Staff Colleges\, and has served three tours (2011\, 2022\, 2023) on the JMDF training squadron as an academic observer/lecturer. He is the author of numerous books and articles\, including the most recent\, The Handbook of Japan’s Foreign and Domestic Policies During the Decade of Abe (Amsterdam University Press\, 2025). His academic achievements have been recognized as a recipient of both the Shimizu Hiroshi Prize (2002) and the Japan Academic Research Award (2019). \n 
URL:https://www.tnwac.org/event/us-and-japan-2025/
LOCATION:Pinnacle Financial Partners\, 21 Platform Way South - 23rd Floor\, Nashville\, TN\, 37203\, United States
CATEGORIES:Distinguished Speaker Series
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