Accomplishments

Accomplishments:

1. Over 25 years executive experience in private business and government service
2. As President of Pilot Corporation for 13 years, Bill grew Pilot from 80 to over 300 locations in 39 states. In the process he created over 11,000 new jobs.
3. As Mayor of Knoxville for the last 6 years, Bill has balanced 6 consecutive city budgets.
4. Under Bill’s leadership, Knoxville has been ranked one of the top 10 cities in the country for job growth and expansion
5. Under Bill’s guidance, Knoxville city’s debt is 25 percent lower than when he took office and the Knoxville Rainy Day Fund has tripled.
6. In 6 years as Mayor, Bill Haslam kept property taxes to the lowest rate in 50 years.
7. Under Bill’s leadership, Knoxville’s budget is actually lower this year than in the last 2 years.
8. Bill is very involved in his community, serving on the board of United Way of Greater Knoxville, Project Grad, The Salvation Army, YoungLife, the East Tennessee Center for Non-Profit Management, Cornerstone Foundation, Knoxville Museum of Art, Foothills Land Conservatory, Tennessee Technology Development Corporation, The President’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and Nine Counties, One Vision (a diversity taskforce).

Why Bill should be governor:

1. He shares our values. Bill Haslam is:
   1. Pro-Life
   2. Pro-Traditional Marriage
   3. A Lifetime Member of the NRA
   4. Adamantly Opposed to any State Income Tax
2. He is the only candidate with the executive experience in both private business and government service - exactly what we need in our next governor.
3. Because we’re facing difficult economic times, we need a governor who can make the hard choices between what we want and what we really need. Bill’s done that as Mayor and as a business executive.
4. In private business, he learned what it takes for companies to create jobs, as mayor he used that experience to recruit new jobs and new companies to Knoxville – he’ll bring that same experience to Nashville.
5. Bill understands that investing in and supporting quality education is Tennessee's best long term economic development strategy. He was a founder in two initiatives (Project Grad and  Knox Achieves) aimed at improving education and increasing graduation rates.