Would we rather fix problems or just keep complaining?
By Scott Robertson  The state of Tennessee just did our region an injustice. In a move thats been in the works long enough to have hired Brad Paisley to record a video hyping it, the Tennessee Department of Tourism announced it is offering $2.5 million in $250 vouchers to travelers who will stay for two nights in a Tennessee hotel, if they fly into Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis or Nashville. Thats in the state budget, so we paid for it. We, that is, here in the Tri-Cities, saw our tax dollars used to promote the idea of travelling to somewhere else in the state. Were subsidizing markets that compete with the Tri-Cities for tourism dollars. As Jerry Petzoldt of TCI Group said on social media, AGAIN the state proves Tennessee stops at Knoxville. Personally, I dont like the program. I think it will just subsidize a lot of trips to Nashville that would have been taken anyway. Next on the blamestorming parade, the Tennessee Department of Tourism. Commissioner Mark Ezells bio reads, born and raised in Middle Tennessee. He received his bachelors degree from Lipscomb University and completed his masters degree at Tennessee Technological University. So, its possible he doesnt always think of northeast Tennessee as often as he thinks of middle Tennessee. When this was being put together to go into the budget, this Tennessee on me program, or as I call it, four of the 415 cities and towns in Tennessee  on all 415 of us was not spearheaded by either the airports or the airlines. It was pushed by the hoteliers and restaurateurs. The state hospitality association is called HospitalityTN. The members of this organization are the hospitality industry lobbying groups from the cities served by the airports in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville. Theres nobody from northeast Tennessee in that august body. So, when the state was being lobbied by the hospitality industry to create this program, nobody from northeast Tennessee was in the room. As Gary Mabrey loved to say when he headed up the Johnson City Chamber, if youre not at the table, youre on the menu.  This being the case, when we complain about not being represented, perhaps we might do well to realize that if wed had our act together as well as every other region in the state when this program was being built, we probably wouldnt have been left out. This is precisely why the Business Journal has been pushing regionalism since 1988. This is a prime example of how northeast Tennessees failure to speak with one regional voice costs us money. But, heres the thing. Its not enough for us to realize we as a region may have played a part in our own downfall in this instance. Its not even enough to ask why every other region in the state has a hospitality lobbying group and we dont. Its not even enough to ask why the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association is woefully underfunded year after year after year. And finally, what can I do to help?  Then we need, at long last, to do it.