Executive Director of Southwest Tennessee Development District

Story by Lyda Kay Ferree, The Southern Lifestyles Lady. Photography by J.T. Pearce, III.

Joe Barker currently serves as Executive Director of Southwest Tennessee Development District (SWTDD), an eight-county regional planning and economic development organization located in Jackson. He has a diverse background in public service in both state and local government. Barker has served as both Mayor of the City of Savannah and of Hardin County.

In 2003, Governor Phil Bredesen appointed Barker to the position of Assistant Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. In 2006, Governor Bredesen appointed him to lead Tennessee Tomorrow, a public/private partnership focused on rural economic development.

In 2022, the West Tennessee City and County Mayor Associations selected Joe to be their local government representative for the Ford/SK Innovation BlueOval City (BOC) project in Haywood County.

Barker has served on numerous national Boards of Directors including the Community Development Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the National Association of Development Organizations.

VIP: Define your role as local government representative to BOC for city and county mayors.

JOE BARKER (JB): After the announcement last September that Ford is coming to West Tennessee, all of the local elected officials were excited and supportive and wanted to be as informed as possible, in particular our rural mayors. Being a former rural mayor, I know that people are always asking about a special project. The mayors were getting a lot of questions. Both the city and county mayor associations from rural West Tennessee came and asked if I would represent them by attending meetings and making sure they are up to date about functions to attend and anything related to BlueOval City. We didn’t want to do anything locally that Ford did not agree with. The Ford officials were contacted, and they thought this was a great idea.

I have the advantage of having been both a city and county mayor. I have known these folks in leadership positions for years, and I really understand the information they need to know.

The Ford and SK Innovation partnership has been meeting periodically in Memphis, Brownsville, Jackson, and other cities. These meetings are open to the public to keep them informed on the project.

VIP: Why is community planning important to take advantage of opportunities with BlueOval City?

JB: Community planning is important on every level, particularly when looking at a project of the magnitude of BOC and the impact it will have on communities. A former governor asked me if our communities have strategic plans. These plans allow community leadership to look at their assets and at what needs improvement. I truly believe the communities that plan are the ones that will benefit. This is the largest private investment in the history of Tennessee—not just West Tennessee. We are fortunate to have this project in rural West Tennessee!

VIP: What is the long-term effect of BlueOval City on West Tennessee?

JB: The long-term effect, as I view it, is to raise the quality of life for all citizens in West Tennessee—everything from financially to skill-wise. Certainly everybody wants to talk about the workforce, but BOC will raise the skill level of all workers for a long period of time and will create educational opportunities we have never had before. One of the most important things is that this project will give our children and grandchildren the opportunity, if they desire, to live and raise their families here without having to move someplace else to enjoy the things that we grew up enjoying in rural West Tennessee.

VIP: What are the challenges presented by BlueOval City?

JB: One of the real challenges is working together as a region in West Tennessee. BOC is certainly not just a Haywood County project. To be successful we must come together and work on our challenges together, whether this is wastewater or another form of infrastructure. These significant infrastructure upgrades are really difficult for a single community to finance. By nature, we are independent creatures and this can sometimes make working together difficult. But I see an attitude of cooperation that I have never seen from regional leaders who understand the huge challenges that we face. To capitalize on these challenges, we must work together and embrace working together as a region.

To grow we must have affordable housing and be able to support retail and service industries—all of these entities require infrastructure like water, wastewater, broadband, etc. The capacity expansion of these infrastructures will cost money. The greatest challenge we face is to have the needed infrastructure and the support of the growth that comes from it. In rural West Tennessee, we have lots of available land that could be developed, but unless we have the infrastructure, it cannot be developed. This is the challenge we are facing now.

Stanton, Brownsville, and Haywood County will definitely have the greatest degree of change in terms of impact on roads, educational system, law enforcement, and so forth.

I’ve had great support from these three mayors, and they are at the epicenter of this project. However, Haywood County’s timeline is a little different from the rest of West Tennessee. They have an opportunity with BlueOval City to apply for various streams of funding from a lot of different sources, and I know they will take advantage of those opportunities.

VIP: Why is BlueOval City a West Tennessee project?

JB: BlueOval City estimates that it will employ about 6,000 people, but all of the supplier industries will not exclusively locate in Haywood County. Instead, they will locate in counties throughout the rest of West Tennessee… I cannot really fathom all that goes into this, but it will be a natural progression of growth. That’s the reason we need to plan and prepare in the right way. I’m talking to other communities with projects of similar magnitude and I’m seeking to learn what they did right and what they wish they’d done differently. By learning from others, we can be as prepared as possible for this growth.

The timeline for peak construction is the third quarter of next year. Hopefully, the first vehicle will roll off the assembly line in the first quarter of 2025.

Ford’s contractor—Wahlbridge Construction—is the general contractor for this project and is overseeing the process. Currently they are doing site preparation, water and sewer projects and TVA is working on the electrical portion.

“BlueOval City is the most transformational project in the history of rural West Tennessee. I compare this project to the planting of a seed that grows into a mighty tree. I personally may not see all the branches this will produce, bur our children and grandchildren will enjoy and benefit from the shade of this tree for generations!”

— Joe Barker, Executive Director of Southwest Tennessee Development District

VIP: Let’s switch gears for a moment and talk about your position at Southwest Tennessee Development District. How long have you served in this position, and what are your chief responsibilities there?

JB: I have been in this position for 15 years. As the Executive Director, I manage a staff of about 40 people. SWTDD is not a part of state government, but our organization was created by state government more than 40 years ago. The purpose of our organization is to work with local elected officials. We have a vital mission working with the local elected officials and it was a natural outgrowth, as far as BlueOval City is concerned, for us to be involved in this project. We travel in the same circle as the area mayors, which makes it much easier.VIP: How does your position at SWTDD assist you in your newly added BOC responsibilities?

VIP: How does your position at SWTDD assist you in your newly added BOC responsibilities?

JB: I have a unique background in that I have been both a city and a county mayor, and I have worked in economic and community development for the state of Tennessee. Having been both an elected official and an economic developer, it was a natural fit.