Nashville becoming melting pot even for international trade

World Trade Center eyed or downtown Nashville
Friday, May 9, 2008Nashville Business Journal

Local business owner Robert Thompson has received approval to start a World Trade Center in Nashville and has paid $200,000 for the license.
Local business owner Robert Thompson wants to open a World Trade Center in downtown Nashville that experts say would open the door internationally to the area and provide new jobs.
Thompson, who owns CenTradeX, has secured approval to start a World Trade Center in Nashville from the World Trade Center Association after paying $200,000 for the license.
CenTradeX is a Franklin-based global database portal that acts as a Web-based search engine for world trade information. Thompson started the 10-employee company in 2001.
"We bring data to life in a way that helps people make money. We do that for other trade centers," Thompson says.
Thompson is looking to partner with the real estate industry to either build a World Trade Center or convert an existing building. Among possible sites he suggested is the 31-story AT&T building at 333 Commerce St. downtown.
"Nashville is [ready] to become an international city. It has the makings of internationalism," he says. "We feel like the time is good to build a trade center."
Professor Howard Cochran at Belmont University, who teaches international business and economics, says the center will help create "a doorway in this city to the rest of the world."
He says CenTradeX and World Trade Center Nashville will serve as a catalyst to internationalize Middle Tennessee and bring new jobs. Cochran says opportunities for business exist worldwide but people are unfamiliar with those opportunities.
"CentradeX provides that information. It acts as that connector to bring countries together," he says.
What shape Nashville's World Trade Center will take is still to be decided.