AutoConnect® 2026

Stuart C. McWhorter serves as the Deputy Governor and Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD). In this role he serves as a top advisor to Governor Bill Lee and manages the day-to-day operations of TNECD. He spearheads the department’s efforts in recruiting new businesses to the state, supporting existing companies in their expansions, assisting in creating greater opportunity across rural Tennessee and helping the state’s small business and entrepreneurial ecosystem grow, which in turn, boosts Tennessee’s overall economic prosperity.

He was appointed as Deputy Governor on October 15, 2025, and has served as TNECD commissioner since July 2022. During his tenure, TNECD has landed nearly 300 projects, which represent more than 39,600 job commitments and $31.3 billion in capital investment. Of those projects, more than 32 percent were the result of foreign direct investment.

McWhorter has a diverse background in entrepreneurship, corporate finance, and strategic planning. He served as co-founder and chairman of Clayton Associates with over 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship and early-stage investing.

McWhorter stepped away from Clayton Associates in 2019 to join Governor Bill Lee’s administration as commissioner of the Department of Finance and Administration. He led the drafting of two fiscal year state budgets, co-chaired the Governor’s Healthcare Modernization Task Force, and was appointed director of the Tennessee Unified Command Group to coordinate the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, McWhorter previously served as the CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and chairman of the Board of Directors of Nashville-based FirstBank Financial Corporation (NYSE: FBK).

He received his Master of Health Administration from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Clemson University.

McWhorter resides in Nashville with his wife, Leigh Anne, and their children.

Rory Heslington joined Autos Drive America as Vice President of Government Affairs in August 2021. In his role, he spearheads the Association’s legislative and policy agenda on a range of issues impacting the automotive manufacturing industry.

Heslington is widely recognized as a trade policy expert.  He previously served as International Trade Policy Advisor to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance under Chairman Chuck Grassley.  Joining the Finance Committee in 2015, Heslington advised on international trade policy that included trade negotiations, supply-chains, e-commerce, and customs. Prior to joining the committee, Rory spent 13 years in the private sector managing market research studies and working for a leadership development training firm.

Rory earned his M.B.A. from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in Political Science and International Relations from Utah Valley University

Gerardo Interiano is Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Public Affairs at Aurora, the company building self-driving technology to deliver the benefits of the future of transportation safely, quickly, and broadly. Based in Pittsburgh, Gerardo leads Aurora’s efforts to help defi ne self-driving policy and ensure self-driving vehicles are both developed and delivered to our roads safely. With more than fifteen years of advocacy, campaign, and legislative experience, he has brought highly regulated products to market in various industries, including transportation and telecommunications. He served on the Board of Directors of VisitPITTSBURGH, the Heinz History Center, and the American Council of Young Political Leaders. Gerardo has a B.A. and J.D. from The University of Texas at Austin.

Eric understands the business, regulatory, environmental and economic challenges facing companies today; he spent 20 years serving as general counsel in the transportation industry, during which time he was also president of an international transportation operating division. As a former corporate officer and general counsel, Eric was involved in determining the strategic direction of companies, managing the different parties involved in the supply chains domestically and internationally for the businesses and their clients, reviewing and managing legal matters, and reviewing and drafting commercial contracts.

Eric’s focus as the head of FBT Gibbons’ Supply Chain practice group and as a member of FBT Gibbons’ Private Equity and Venture Capital Industry Team is on mergers and acquisitions, corporate transactions and general corporate and regulatory compliance matters, international and domestic commercial real estate (warehousing and distribution centers), international licensing and authorized representative agreements, and assisting clients with their supply chain needs in all facets of their supply chains, including ocean, air, ground, and rail transportation. Eric also speaks frequently on tariffs, supply chain challenges, infrastructure investment, and the USMCA and guides clients with cross-border and international supply chain matters and foreign direct investment both in the Americas and internationally.

Eric is also President of Transaction Expeditors (TE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of FBT Gibbons. TE is a strategic technology & innovation company with deep experience in the insurance, transportation and mergers & acquisition verticals. TE offers AI-enabled contract review and redlining solutions that help companies do more with less. TE makes contract review easier and helps companies close deals faster utilizing people, process & technology.

Nate Savona leads Oliver Wyman’s corporate Automotive and Industrial vertical in North America, partnering with OEMs, dealers, and suppliers to drive strategic and transformational initiatives that enhance business performance. With over 15 years of experience, Nate has delivered tens of billions of dollars in profit improvements through expertise in sales and growth transformations, pricing strategies, service and parts optimization, and operational cost reduction.

Specializing at the intersection of OEMs and dealer channels, Nate focuses on improving service and vehicle uptime, accelerating aftermarket growth, and boosting profitability by integrating operational discipline with digital innovation. His work leverages IoT and connected assets, optimized warranty and recovery processes, enhanced customer service, and more efficient repair operations through advanced service tools, training, and process improvements.  He also supports clients with multi-billion dollar direct material cost reduction efforts, working with their supply base from concepting and design through mass production.

Nate holds a degree in Architecture from the University of Notre Dame and applies a practical, results-driven approach to help clients modernize, transform, and develop connected, data-driven capabilities that improve both customer outcomes and business results. He lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and three daughters.

Aaron’s practice focuses on international trade and export control matters. Aaron regularly advises clients on tariff structuring and mitigation, supply chain security issues, and compliance under U.S. export control laws such Department of Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and the Department of State’s International Traffic In Arms Regulations (“ITAR”).  As part of this work, Aaron routinely represents clients before federal regulatory agencies such as U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) and the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”).

Aaron has used his considerable customs law experience to help blunt the impact of tariff measures on client operations.  This includes assistance with the classification and valuation of products, duty drawback analyses, Foreign Trade Zone (“FTZ”) applications, and more. Finally, Aaron is also well-versed in the various Buy America statutes and regulations governing federal procurement.

Jesse Dove serves as Executive Director, Labor Relations North America at Bridgestone Americas, Inc., based out of Bridgestone’s corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. In this role, Jesse oversees and manages Bridgestone’s union relationships across its manufacturing facilities and automotive service retail network in the United States and Canada. Jesse partners closely with executive leadership and union officials to develop and to advance cost-effective strategies promoting productivity and performance across Bridgestone’s organized workforce of 5,000 employees. In his previous role with Bridgestone, Jesse served as Associate General Counsel – Benefits and Compensation where he advised on a wide range of matters involving ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code and other state and federal laws impacting benefits and compensation matters. Jesse serves as Secretary of the Bridgestone Succession, Nomination and Compensation Committee of the Bridgestone Americas, Inc. Board of Directors.

Prior to joining Bridgestone, Jesse served as in-house ERISA counsel for Alcoa Inc. (now known as Arconic Inc.) based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania after working as a benefits and compensation attorney in private legal practice.

Jesse is a graduate of West Virginia University (BA, 2002), University of Miami School of Law (JD, 2005) and Georgetown University Law Center (LLM, 2011).

Emma is Deputy General Counsel and Senior Manager of the Legal & Compliance Department at Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA), North America’s only manufacturer of Subaru vehicles. Emma leads risk management activity for SIA, with a focus on labor and employment matters, regulatory and compliance issues, and litigation.

Prior to joining SIA in 2020, Emma was in private practice, where she provided strategic advice on labor and employment matters, investigations, and litigation defense. Emma holds a B.A. from Butler University and a J.D. from Indiana University McKinney School of Law.

Dave is a Partner in FBT Gibbons’ Columbus office and practices immigration law within the firm’s labor and employment practice group. He advises employers in an array of industries on complex immigration issues and assists them in securing temporary work visas and permanent residence for their foreign national employees. He works closely with foreign national employees, human resources personnel, business units, and offices of general counsel to coordinate both individual case matters and global immigration strategies.

Before rejoining the firm, Dave served as lead immigration counsel for American Honda Motor Co., Inc. and oversaw insourced and outsourced immigration visa activities for several of Honda’s U.S. operations; developed strategies to navigate reorganizations, global travel issues, administrative changes, and a rapidly changing industry; supported outbound visa activities; counseled on I-9 and E-Verify compliance; and advised Honda’s international operations on U.S. immigration matters. Dave also has extensive law firm immigration experience.

Suzanne Meredith, the Director of Litigation and Employment Law at Toyota Material Handling North America, Inc. (TMHNA), the leader in forklifts in North America. Suzanne directs the litigation program for both Toyota Material Handling, Inc. and The Raymond Corporation, as well as the distribution network for these brands. In addition, she leads labor and employment strategy for these entities. During her career, Suzanne has managed cases and claims across the United States and U.S. territories, Canada, and Latin America. Suzanne, a native Kentuckian, obtained her undergraduate degree from Mississippi College and her law degree from Texas Tech University.

Heather focuses her practice on providing timely, practical and strategic advice to businesses on all aspects of employment matters to identify and mitigate legal risks. This includes issues relating to hiring, discipline, termination, wage and hour, accommodations, leaves, reductions in force, (WARN issues) and workplace harassment, discrimination and retaliation. She also prepares and updates employee manuals, policies and procedures to make sure employer are staying up to date on the ever changing federal and state labor and employment laws. Heather is also routinely hired to handle sensitive internal investigations involving high-level executives.

Arun DeSouza is a renowned global cybersecurity executive, keynote speaker and thought leader. Arun has extensive global IT and security leadership experience leading change and transformation and has a major part of his career in the automotive industry. He serves as an executive advisor for venture capital firms and technology companies.

His interests include the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, and quantum computing. Arun’s areas of expertise include strategic planning, risk management, identity management, cloud computing, data security, and privacy.
Arun earned M.S. and PhD degrees from Vanderbilt University, He is a Certified Information Systems Security professional (CISSP) and has earned the Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK).

Arun was inducted into the CISO Hall of Fame by the First Global Cyber Observatory and has won multiple industry awards. He is the current President of the Motor City chapter of the Information Systems Security Chapter (ISSA) and is highly active in the cybersecurity community as an ambassador and mentor.

Mason is a Partner in the Data, Digital Assets & Technology (DDAT) Practice Group, specific to the Data Security & Privacy service team. She is also a key member of the firm’s AI and AI Governance team. With over fifteen years of experience as a lawyer and policy advocate in Washington, DC, she provides real world and actionable advice on privacy and data security matters, including legal compliance, policy and program development, and other issues at the intersection of privacy, security, and technology. As a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US and CIPP/E) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), Mason has unique insight into the policymaking process and provides guidance that is practical, accomplishes the client’s objectives, and that can be easily implemented.

Prior to joining FBT Gibbons, Mason served as the Chief Privacy Officer to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where she advised the Secretary of DHS, Deputy Secretary of DHS, heads of DHS agencies, and the National Security Council on privacy implications for national security and law enforcement initiatives. In this role, Mason developed and implemented policies and programs on the use of new and emerging technologies and personal data, including the use of artificial intelligence, commercial data, social media information, and privacy enhancing technologies in a transparent manner while enabling innovation and time sensitive operational needs, all while ensuring compliance with federal privacy law, policies, and guidance. Mason was also responsible for managing and remediating data privacy breaches and cybersecurity incidents involving personal data and oversaw DHS’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policy, program, and training.

Matt serves clients of all sizes, from individual inventors to international conglomerates, and has advised regarding data, AI, software, electrical, mechanical, semiconductor, cryptography, security, and electromagnetic technologies in industries as diverse as computer security, automotive, digital advertising, banking, wireless communications, telematics, music distribution, blockchain, and retail. He brings his educational and Department of Defense work background in intellectual property, computer engineering, cryptography, and security to bear on clients’ management of data systems and policies, vendor agreements, pursuit of patent rights, development of trademark rights, engagement in technology transactions, and licensing of a vast array of IP and technology.

Matt has also written or negotiated agreements on behalf of providers, distributors, integrators, and users of software that’s commercialized using SaaS, PaaS, or embedded software licensing models in the data analytics, AI, cybersecurity, medical image analysis, ERP, government grant data management and funding, and many other fields.

Dan Towriss is a visionary leader driving innovation and transformation across a wide range of businesses.  As CEO of TWG Motorsports, Dan played a pivotal role in securing the landmark Cadillac Formula 1 team in partnership with General Motors, and TWG has acquired a broad racing portfolio that includes Andretti Global, Wayne Taylor Racing, and Spire Motorsports. Dan is building TWG Motorsports to bring innovation, operational excellence, and financial strength to a global motorsports enterprise that expects to win at the highest levels.

And as founder and CEO of Group 1001, a dynamic financial services company, he applies more than 30 years of experience to drive growth, strategy, and operational excellence. Under Dan’s leadership, Group 1001 has amassed combined assets under management of more than $66 billion.

Beyond an impressive track record in business, Dan is deeply committed to empowering communities.  He invests in impactful organizations and serves on boards such as the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation and RISE. Through these efforts, he strives to empower the next generation through sports and education, while fostering long-term community development.