By TOMI L. WILEY
Special to The Wilson Post

MT. JULIET -- Have the interest, they will come.

That’s the hope of Mt. Juliet officials and business leaders as Cumberland University announced recently an interest in building a nursing satellite program in Mt. Juliet.

Dr. Harvill Eaton, Cumberland president, said last week that he would like to have at least 25 students enrolled in order to begin a nursing program in Mt. Juliet.

By TOMI L. WILEY
Special to The Wilson Post

MT. JULIET -- Have the interest, they will come.

That’s the hope of Mt. Juliet officials and business leaders as Cumberland University announced recently an interest in building a nursing satellite program in Mt. Juliet.

Dr. Harvill Eaton, Cumberland president, said last week that he would like to have at least 25 students enrolled in order to begin a nursing program in Mt. Juliet.

In response to that announcement, Mt. Juliet Economic and Community Development Director Kenny Martin said Monday that the response has been “awesome.” He said that as of late Friday afternoon there had been a combined response between CU and Mt. Juliet City Hall of more than 50 people.

“Already the response has been significant, with calls for information coming to the City of Mt. Juliet office, and, of course, directly to Cumberland,” Eaton said Monday. “All of the inquiries that have gone to the City of Mt. Juliet were passed over to Cumberland immediately so that they could receive a response as soon as possible.”

Besides local interest in the program, there are several steps that must be taken before Cumberland can establish a presence in Mt. Juliet, Eaton continued. 
 
“The leadership of Mt. Juliet has been very encouraging in their discussions with Cumberland concerning activities we might have there. We consider a Mt. Juliet presence to be an important part of our strategic growth,” Eaton said, “but must assure that the specific activities we attempt in the city are: (1) programmatically logical for us, the City, and the region in the long-term, (2) fit the strategic plan of Cumberland, and (3) make business sense. These three points are critical, and must be the primary drivers for Cumberland’s decision.

“Taking each one separately, we are looking for a long-term, logical outreach to Mt. Juliet. The areas that make sense for the region, and for us, are professional studies in business, technology and healthcare, especially as they affect the working adult. So, those are the strategic directions that guide our actions. Second, we must also make sure the directions in which we go fit the strategic plan of the University, and these areas certainly do. Finally, the business proposition must make sense for us to continue this or any program,” he said.
 
The “strategic move” to Mt. Juliet, Eaton said, “will be positive, and success of the nursing program will accelerate the broadening of our activity in Mt. Juliet.’
 
A proposed nursing program – and additional programs that could spin off of its success – could be a boon economically and socially for the residents of the Mt. Juliet area, agreed Mt. Juliet/West Wilson Chamber of Commerce President Mark Hinesley. He said that not only would additional people coming to Mt. Juliet for classes boost local retail sales but would increase job opportunities and training by offering higher education.

“I would think that an MBA program might be attractive to at least a portion of our residents. Anything relating to advancing continuing education opportunities in our community would be a very welcome addition. As traditional employers look to the future and assess what they are going to need in terms of skill sets from employees, a significant amount of re-training would seem to be at least something to consider.”
 
Eaton agreed that continued education and training for Mt. Juliet’s working adults would help the local economy.

“The presence of private colleges with four-year and graduate programs helps economic development in a major way,” Eaton said. “Cumberland enhances sustainable economic development. We aim to help underpin healthcare and technology-based companies with their immediate workforce needs, but will be engaged in the creation of new companies that keep jobs in a region for decades.

“Cumberland will help incubate new business and support changing product lines in existing business. This means a county than can evolve with the long term changes in business rather than go boom then go bust when one way of making something or selling something changes or finds a cheaper labor source.

“Again, it’s about sustainable economic development. We are placing our emphasis in Mt. Juliet on those activities that help attract the industries and the residents of future business in healthcare and technology since that will where the nation is heading is the area from which a region like Wilson County and Mt. Juliet gets the greatest economic gain in the long term,” the Cumberland president said.

Martin added that the location of a CU satellite campus in Mt. Juliet and available hours to working adults seeking higher education would be a dream come true for many people.

“The location and hours of the Mt. Juliet location will allow many who have been dreaming about entering a career in nursing to become a reality if the program comes to fruition,” Martin said Monday. “We'd like to be a huge part of making people's dreams come true and will do all we can to make it happen. Out of each of the 50 people that have called there was at least one similarity with each caller and that was excitement. Each caller expressed how they had been searching for such a program and was excited to see that Cumberland was considering Mt. Juliet for a possible location.”

Location is the key word at this point, and Mt. Juliet City Manager Randy Robertson said Monday that Cumberland officials were pondering nearly a dozen different locations in Mt. Juliet to settle. As of Tuesday, possible locations were still being considered.
 
According to Hinesley, location for a possible CU nursing program is “probably pretty high on their list” of priorities. And as far as priorities in Mt. Juliet for the betterment of its residents and workforce, continuing education ranks high on the list, since higher education of a workforce often means better accessibility to corporate recruitment.

“A community with access to higher education is a community much better poised for the future than one without this opportunity,” Hinesley noted.

For more information or to sign up for a future nursing program in Mt. Juliet contact Martin at 754-2552 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Editor’s Note: Tomi L. Wiley is the editor of The Chronicle of Mt. Juliet.