Award-Winning Campaigns Feature Transformative “Build With Us” and Empowering People, Influencing Culture Initiatives, Recruitment for Tennessee’s Graduate Transportation Engineering Program

Nashville, TN -- 11/9/23

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) received three awards for excellence in marketing and communication for the Build With Us communications campaign, the internal communications campaign for Empowering People, Influencing Culture (EPIC), and a Graduate Transportation Engineering (GTE) Program recruitment video. MarCom, an administration of the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), awarded the honors.

The Build With Us campaign received MarCom’s prestigious Platinum Award for connecting with citizens through an integrated statewide communications strategy to inspire and resonate with the unifying spirit of Tennessee. MarCom reserves the Platinum Award for entries judged to be among the most outstanding in the competition and recognizes excellence in quality, creativity, and resourcefulness. Only about 17% of entries claim Platinum status.

The EPIC internal communications campaign received the Gold Award under MarCom’s Internal Communications Campaign category, as did the GTE Program recruitment video under MarCom’s Video/Film Recruitment category. MarCom bestows its Gold awards to entries that exceed the high standards of the industry norm. Approximately 20% of entries were Gold Winners.

MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievements by marketing and communication professionals. Since its inception in 2004, MarCom has evolved into one of the largest, most respected creative competitions in the world. Each year MarCom receives about 6,500 print and digital submissions from dozens of countries.

“Receiving these awards from MarCom is truly a reflection of the thousands of minds and hands working tirelessly for the betterment of all Tennesseans,” said Deputy Governor and TDOT Commissioner, Butch Eley. “The international recognition these honors convey certifies the quality of our work, ignites our team, and instills even more trust from our partners.”

The Build With Us campaign led to the successful passing of the Transportation Modernization Act (TMA), which fundamentally changes the way TDOT delivers projects while establishing a sustainable revenue source for the future. The historic TMA created a new project delivery strategy through the expansion of alternative delivery methods, the ability for TDOT to enter into Public-Private Partnerships (P3s), and parity between electric vehicles and combustion engine vehicles.

EPIC, one of TDOT’s largest internal initiatives, focuses on employees to provide more career opportunities, align salaries to market rates, and influence a culture of accomplishment. EPIC includes a complete reorganization of TDOT to incorporate new opportunities for employees to explore technical advancement, project management, and leadership.

The GTE Program provides entry-level engineers and recent graduates with hands-on experience in disciplines such as Geodetics, Construction, Roadway Design, and Traffic Operations and Design. TDOT developed the program to focus on employees and provide more career growth opportunities. The employees begin their career at TDOT rotating through different disciplines over two years providing exposure to the Department as a whole, allowing employees the opportunity to chart their career path in the areas that interest them most.

Discover more information about the TMA and Build With Us on TDOT’s website. You can also explore more on TDOT’s GTE Program here.