Bob Corker to Deliver Keynote Address at 2025 Tri-State Summit

We are pleased to announce that Bob Corker, former United States senator from Chattanooga, Tennessee, will join Bridgett Massengill, Thrive’s President and CEO, in a keynote conversation at the Tri-State Summit on October 1-2, 2025 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

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The Tri-State Summit is Thrive’s flagship annual conference designed for elected, community, and business leaders in northeast Alabama, northwest Georgia, and southeast Tennessee. 

This year, the Tri-State Summit celebrates the power of "Yes, And" thinking—where competing priorities become shared possibilities, and regional progress is built through creativity and collaboration across differences.

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Bob Corker is a successful businessman, former Mayor and United States Senator. Corker represented Tennesseans in the Senate from 2007-2019, where he served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was very active on the banking committee, and became a national and global thought leader on fiscal, financial, and foreign policy issues.

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He was Tennessee’s commissioner of finance and mayor of Chattanooga before being elected to the Senate, but he spent most of his life in business. In 1978 he founded his first company that led to lifelong involvement in the construction and development fields. In 1986, he cofounded and chaired a non profit, Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, which has helped thousands of families secure affordable housing.

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“We are honored to have Senator Corker joining us at the Tri-State Summit this year. He has long been a role model for me in transformational place-based leadership rooted in a genuine passion for people, his beloved hometown, and nation. Having the chance to engage him in a conversation at the Summit about his experiences in boldly tackling challenges alongside his shared love for this region will be a deeply meaningful experience for all who attend.” — Bridgett Massengill, President and CEO, Thrive Regional Partnership

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After an extensive public service career, in January of 2019, Corker returned to business. He currently serves as chairman of Rise Partners, which acquires and develops properties throughout the Southeast, and is chairman of One-to-One Health, which delivers at work and virtual concierge medicine. He is on the board of Skyuka Hall, a school for young people with learning differences along with being an advisor to several philanthropic and policy based entities. Corker and his wife, Elizabeth, call Chattanooga home.

Find more information about the Tri-State Summit on the event webpage.