University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service reports $2 billion in customer-reported impact, outlines 2025 priorities

Herb Berg, vice president of the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service, told the State and Local Government Committee on a Wednesday in February 2025 that the institute and its agencies produced more than $2,000,000,000 in customer-reported economic impact last year and outlined program goals for 2025.

Berg said the institute, a statewide unit of the University of Tennessee system, delivers training and technical assistance through six agencies and a SMART initiative focused on substance misuse and addiction. “We’re a small place, but our agencies brought in over $2,000,000,000, 2 billion with a b, of customer reported economic impact,” Berg said.

The report to committee members emphasized specific agency work and targets for the coming year. The Center for Industrial Services reported assisting hundreds of manufacturers and aims to achieve $2,500,000,000 of customer-reported economic impact in 2025 while expanding basic manufacturing training, including a 10-day manufacturing boot camp for incarcerated individuals. Berg said that center served 355 manufacturers last year.

Berg described the County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS) response to recent flooding in upper East Tennessee and said CTAS consultants provided emergency support to mayors, sheriffs, emergency-management personnel and highway officials. CTAS also delivered orientation and training for newly elected county officials; Berg said the organization trained 23 newly elected county officials last year and plans an emergency-management introduction course and a new solid-waste certificate program in 2025.

The Law Enforcement Innovation Center delivered an advanced leadership curriculum for the Memphis Police Department and expanded courses in human trafficking, sovereign-citizen encounters, forensic photography and Spanish-language basics for officers. Berg said the center plans new courses on cyber‑facilitated crimes and an executive leadership program for prospective chiefs and commanders.

MTAS, the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, supported municipal projects including wastewater planning with the city of Morristown and a fire-hydrant maintenance plan for Rockwood. The institute’s center for leadership training — described in the briefing as the center that runs the certified public manager (CPM) program — trained more than 8,000 local and state officials last year and reported $24,000,000 in economic impact from CPM capstone projects; Berg said the institute expects a larger economic impact from expanded CPM participation in 2025.

The Tennessee Language Center provided live interpretation of the Nashville mayor’s state of metro address into Spanish and Arabic and has begun developing local government language-access plans. Berg also highlighted SMART (Substance Misuse and Addiction Resource for Tennessee), which worked with more than 50 counties on opioid-related planning and assisted a partnership with Gibson Guitars’ philanthropic arm to place naloxone (Narcan) kits at public music venues.

On next steps, Berg said SMART will add an evaluation and research position to measure program effectiveness at the county level: “A lot of folks have a lot of ideas about what might work ... and so, there’s not always evidence out there that that actually did work,” he said. Berg closed by stressing the institute’s statewide reach: “There’s nobody in our state that we don't touch, directly or indirectly.”

Committee members praised the institute’s work and discussed the possibility of a site visit to the institute’s facilities. The committee recorded no bills on the calendar at this meeting. The chair entertained a motion to adjourn; a motion was made and seconded and the meeting adjourned without objection.