8:00 am â€" 9:00 am Breakfast, Plenary Session 18 (1 CM credit hour pending)

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Catherine Ross, Director of Georgia Tech's Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD)

Between now and the year 2050, more than half of the nation’s population growth, and perhaps as much as two‐thirds of its economic growth, will occur in several “Megaregions.” These Megaregions are extended networks of metropolitan centers and the surrounding areas. They often cross county and state lines and are linked by transportation and communication networks. The southeastern United States has been identified as an emerging Megaregion, where recent and projected settlement patterns and infrastructure systems are enhancing important social, economic, and environmental links between the many parts of the region. The state of Tennessee is part of the Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion along with Atlanta and Charlotte, NC.