Cal Wray's advice for Clarksville-Montgomery County: 'Learn to work together'

On his way out the door for the last time this week, Cal Wray offered some parting advice for Clarksville-Montgomery County as he reflected on his time here:

"Find a way to work together. Build consensus on community projects. Stop listening to, and yielding to vocal minorities.

"Only then, can you get more things done for the betterment of this community," Wray said in an interview with The Leaf-Chronicle.

In an election year that finds almost every key local, state and federal office on the ballot, achieving such a cooperative community spirit might be much easier said, than done.

But without ever naming specific names during the interview, having a lack of true community consensus on anything is what Wray feels is holding Clarksville-Montgomery County back from "being (as the U.S. Army coins it) all that it can be."

Wray has resigned, and officially exited Friday as executive director of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council, a post he's held since April 2014. His role has also included overseeing day-to-day activities for Aspire Clarksville, the private fundraising arm of the EDC.

He has been tapped as the next executive director of the Augusta Economic Development Authority in Augusta, Ga., which is the second-biggest city in the Peach State and home to professional golf's famed "The Masters" Tournament every April.

Among local achievements, he is credited with assisting the Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Board — an agency under the umbrella of the EDC — in landing the $600 million Google data center, and $250 million LG Electronics plant.

"That's been probably the most rewarding part of my time here ... the industrial component. Hankook Tire, LG, Google ... I think between those companies, the possibilities for this community are endless.

More: Year of the jobs: Hankook, LG brought great news to Clarksville

"We've seen significant Korean investment, and I'd like to see Montgomery County also attract more European business investment. But, overall, the industrial component of our work here has been, hands-down, a success," he said.

Building a larger tourism and quality-of-life component into the local economy is where Wray seems a bit more frustrated. He emphasizes that Clarksville remains the only city of considerable size, anywhere in the nation, that is still without a convention center.

"This community needs convention, and arena space, and it needs to do more to attract small business development. When you look at what's currently happening downtown with efforts to revitalize, that's encouraging," he said.

Pluses in Clarksville's corner include, according to Wray, its close proximity to Nashville, currently one of the nation's "it" cities.

"And when you have names like Hankook and LG in your community, that gets you on the global radar.

"Clarksville-Montgomery County's labor force, with Fort Campbell plus the local colleges and universities, really sets it apart.

"The real limitations this community is going to face going forward may include its lack of available land for industrial development. The community still has roughly 1,000 acres, but LG claimed the site that had been our crown jewel location within the current-remaining acreage," Wray said.

An industrial megasite shared between Montgomery and Robertson counties, if it ever gains approval, would be set aside for one major industry perhaps employing upwards of 8,000 people, not a collection of manufacturing and distribution sites.

Wray favors the megasite, but also feels that Montgomery County will need to procure additional industrial acreage in the future, that offers easy access to key transportation arteries.

A considerable amount of efficiency-minded organizational streamlining is also needed in Clarksville-Montgomery County, Wray said. He looks forward to having fewer board meetings to attend in Augusta, than he's been accustomed to in Clarksville.

"The thing that has been most frustrating during my time here is the lack of community consensus. There are no problems that Clarksville-Montgomery County has, that other communities don't have. But having to constantly try and build consensus here has been a challenge.

"Open, public discourse and debate are healthy, but why do we have to play every community disagreement out through the media, and why do we allow vocal minorities to sway the decisions of many of our leaders?

"The question of consolidated government is currently one example," Wray said. "How can you make a decision on whether to be for, or against it, when you don't even have the proposed charter for public review yet?

"Building consensus means being able to sit down and have a conversation, and where necessary, being able to agree to disagree on some issues, without taking them as personal affronts.

"Leaders may not always agree, but for the greater community good, you can learn how to build trust and work together by finding successes with the low-hanging fruit — those worthwhile projects that you can, easily, agree on," he said.

Wray said he'll miss people in Clarksville-Montgomery County whom he has befriended, and who have a cooperative, "can-do" spirit.

Reach Business Editor Jimmy Settle at 931-245-0247 and on Twitter @settle_leaf.