Tennessee Voices, Episode 351: Rebecca Ozols Goss and Wesley Stith on SDBX

David Plazas, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read

The Nashville region continues on its trajectory as a "supernova" city and with that comes construction all around the region.

Many small business owners in the construction industry may not know how to access opportunities that have emerged from the growth in Middle Tennessee.

That's why four large construction companies came together to put on the Small and Diverse Business Expo (SDBX) on May 23 to connect businesses with each other, learn from mentors, and find leads and opportunities.

The companies are Clark Construction Group, BELL Construction Company, Mortenson and Pinnacle Construction Partners.

A partial view of Nashville's downtown skyline is visible from the spacious balconies at Hyve, a newly-constructed apartment building in Pie Town. Hyve was featured in the Nashville Downtown Partnership 2023 home tour.
A partial view of Nashville's downtown skyline is visible from the spacious balconies at Hyve, a newly-constructed apartment building in Pie Town. Hyve was featured in the Nashville Downtown Partnership 2023 home tour.

On this episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast, Rebecca Ozols Goss of BELL Construction and Wesley Stith of Clark Construction spoke about the costs, opportunities and consequences of growth.

BELL is a 53-year-old company that built the iconic AT&T skyscraper, known as the "Batman Building," in downtown Nashville. Among the 117-year-old Clark's big projects are the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Ozols Goss and Stith talked about how Nashville is at a crossroads and small businesses are struggling to take advantage of opportunities.

They hope the expo will be especially helpful for women- and minority-owned businesses, which are often underrepresented in projects.

To register for the Small and Diverse Business Expo (SDBX) or for more information, please visit cbmpjv.com.

Related column: Build the future of Nashville that reflects the faces of today's community | Opinion

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About Tennessee Voices

The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.

Watch past episodes:Tennessee Voices videocast

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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee. He is of Colombian and Cuban descent, has studied or worked in several Spanish-speaking countries, and was the founding editor of Gaceta Tropical in Southwest Florida. He has lived in Tennessee since 2014. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Video podcast: Rebecca Ozols Goss and Wesley Stith on SDBX