Business group endorses Lee

The National Federation of Independent Business has endorsed Republican Bill Lee in the Tennessee governor’s race.

NFIB State Director Jim Brown made the endorsement at a news conference at Ruby Falls on Tuesday. Brown was introduced by Ruby Falls President Hugh Morrow, who called the NFIB a “great advocate” for businesses with federal, state and local governments.

Brown said he met Lee in 2011 when the Franklin, Tennessee, businessman and farmer was helping Gov. Bill Haslam’s efforts at tort reform.

“This is a good man,” Brown said of Lee. “He embodies devotion to service” and has an “exceptional pedigree as a small business owner.”

Lee is president of Lee Company, which offers comprehensive facilities solutions and home services. The company employs 1,200 people and has annual revenue of $215 million, according to Lee’s website.

Speaking to local supporters and elected officials on the plaza outside the Ruby Falls entrance, Lee called independent business the “backbone and heart and soul of our economy” and said he would build on the accomplishments of Gov. Bill Haslam and other state leaders.

He said business is important to helping Tennesseans have the “three most important things: A good job, a good school for their kids and a safe neighborhood.”

Afterward, Lee cited the number of “distressed” counties in Tennessee and said his “rural roadmap” would help those and other counties preserve their rural way of life while developing economically.

He also wants to work to reduce recidivism and help people with criminal convictions re-enter society as productive citizens. He said it’s more productive to spend on rehabilitation than incarceration.

Lee is competing with Democratic nominee Karl Dean, the former two-term mayor of Nashville who served three terms as the Davidson County public defender.

Early voting is underway, continuing through Nov. 1, and Election Day is Nov. 6.