On Halloween, Woodbury resident Cliff Swoape retires from a 37-year career at Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District (MTNG) that included being the Service Technician for Cannon County from 1990-1995, and Safety & Training Manager for all MTNG personnel from 1997-2020. On November 1, Cliff will embark on the next phase of his natural gas career as the newly named Executive Director of the Tennessee Gas Association (TGA). Cliff said, “It is tough leaving a company that has provided for you and been a part of your family for nearly four decades, but I am excited for this opportunity and to serve all Tennessee natural gas utilities, pipelines, and their business partners, including MTNG.”
The TGA Selection Committee led a national search for the Association’s seventh Executive Director since its founding in 1962. After locating the best suited candidate for the position, they made their recommendation to the Executive Committee and Board of Directors, who unanimously approved. Cliff is a longtime active member of TGA, who has served on numerous TGA committees, and is well known as an instructor for TGA’s field operations training efforts.
Cliff is active in a variety of other industry organizations as well as in our community. He is a Charter member of the Cannon County Chamber of Commerce and joined the Woodbury Lions Club at the persistence of Dude Northcutt back in 1992, transferring to the MTSU Lions Club in 2020. In 2019 Cliff was a recipient of the TGA Silver Flame Award, TGA’s highest honor for distinguished service to the Tennessee gas industry. Cliff holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, and a master’s degree in management with an emphasis in organizational leadership from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. He is a member of the Woodbury First United Methodist Church where he was married to his wife, Katherine Mangione, a Professor of Education at Middle Tennessee State University. Cliff and Katherine are the proud parents of three daughters and a son, and the proud grandparents of two grandchildren.
Swoape will assume duties as the new Tennessee Gas Association Executive Director effective November 1st.