Beacon Center of Tennessee
| Beacon Center of Tennessee | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Nashville, Tenn. |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| Affiliation: | Nonpartisan |
| Top official: | Justin Owen, President and CEO |
| Founder(s): | Drew Johnson |
| Year founded: | 2004 |
| Employees: | 10 |
| Website: | Official website |
The Beacon Center of Tennessee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and policy institution based in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 2004 as the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.[1][2] According to its website, the Beacon Center's scholars research and advocate for the removal of government barriers in education, healthcare, economic regulation, tax policy, and more.[3] As of 2025, it was a member of the State Policy Network, a national think tank network.[4]
Background
Drew Johnson founded the Beacon Center of Tennessee in 2004 and remained a part of the organization until 2012.[5] The organization's board of directors elected Justin Owen, who had been with the center since 2008, president and CEO of the organization in 2010.[6]
On its website, the Beacon Center of Tennessee states that it is "dedicated to providing expert empirical research and timely free market solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee."[3]
Leadership
As of November 2025, the following are listed as the main staff of the Beacon Center of Tennessee:[7]
- Justin Owen, President and CEO
- Kathryn Beale, Director of Development
- Suzanne Michel, Director of Operations
The Board of Directors of the Beacon Center of Tennessee includes the following individuals:[7]
- John Cerasuolo, Chairman (retired president and CEO, ADS Security)[8]
- Joe Scarlett, Vice-Chair (Retired Chairman, Tractor Supply Company and Founder, Scarlett Leadership Institute)[9]
- Tina Benkiser (founder, Hamilton Flourishing, state executive committeewoman, Tennessee Republican Party)[10]
- Fred Decosimo (CPA and shareholder, Elliott Davis)[11]
- Drew Everett (chairman, Bush Brothers & Company)[12]
- Brian Fitzpatrick (law professor, Vanderbilt Law School)[13]
- Ken Meyer (senior director, K12, Inc)[14]
- Richard Patton (founder, chairman, and CIO, Courage Capital Management)[15]
- Pat Shepherd (co-founder, Avondale Partners)[16]
- Doug Song (co-founder and managing partner, Prodos Capital)[17]
Work and activities
The Beacon Center of Tennessee analyzes six main issues:[18]
- Educational freedom
- Housing and property rights
- Healthcare access
- Economic opportunity
- Entrepreneurship and innovation
- Property rights
- Regulation and red tape
The Beacon Center publishes an annual report entitled the Tennessee Pork Report that aims to identify what it perceives as waste, fraud and abuse in the Tennessee State Government.[19] The 2015 edition of the Tennessee Pork Report gave its "Pork of the Year" award to the project to re-design the state logo.[20]
In 2007, the organization attracted media attention, including from the Washington Post, after releasing a report alleging that former Vice President Al Gore's home used more electricity than 20 times the national average.[21]
Finances
The following is a breakdown of The Beacon Center for Tennessee's revenues and expenses from 2014 to 2024. The information comes from ProPublica
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2.4 million | $2.4 million |
| 2023 | $2.6 million | $2.2 million |
| 2022 | $2.1 million | $1.9 million |
| 2021 | $2.3 million | $1.7 million |
| 2021 | $2.3 million | $1.7 million |
| 2020 | $2.4 million | $1.5 million |
| 2019 | $1.6 million | $1.5 million |
| 2018 | $1.3 million | $1.3 million |
| 2017 | $1 million | $1.2 million |
| 2016 | $930,000 | $1.4 million |
| 2015 | $1.4 million | $989,000 |
| 2014 | $957,689 | $775,285 |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Nashville Post, "Beaconators," October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "A Celebration of Freedom," October 22, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Our Story," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ State Policy Network, "Beacon Center of Tennessee," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ The Tennessean, "Beacon Center grows, helps defeat Insure TN," May 22, 2015
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Justin Owen named TCPR president," August 27, 2010
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Our People," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "John Cerasuolo," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Joe Scarlett," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Tina Benkiser," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Fred Decosimo," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Drew Everett," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Brian Fitzpatrick," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Ken Meyer," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Richard Patton," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Pat Shepherd," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Doug Song," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "Issues," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "2024 Pork Report," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Beacon Center of Tennessee, "2015 Tennessee Pork Report," accessed October 22, 2025
- ↑ Washington Post, "War on Warming Begins at (Al Gore's) Home," March 1, 2007
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