E

With his roots deeply embedded in Winchester, Sean Crabtree welcomes the opportunity to lead the city as its new mayor.

Crabtree was elected to the position on Aug. 3 with 414 votes, followed in order by Steve Cagley with 315 and David Marlow with 113.

He said he decided to run for the position because he wants Winchester to continue escalating as a retail and industrial drawing card and be in a position to accommodate those wishing to locate or expand in the city.

Crabtree acknowledged after winning the election that he has big shoes to fill in carrying on the legacy exiting Mayor Terry Harrell had established in his 28 years of service to the city, first as an alderman then as mayor from 2006 onward.

“He’s done a very good job,” Crabtree said, referring to how Harrell had been a figurehead in promoting Winchester as a prime residential community bolstered by strong retail and industrial development.

Crabtree said he believes he personally has the foundation to continue with the approach and focus Harrell had established.

“I’m deeply rooted in the community and want what’s best for Winchester and the area,” he said, adding that his wife, Jenny, also has a strong connection to the area and the couple has a daughter, Marilee, who is a University of Tennessee student aspiring to be a veterinarian.

Jenny is employed by the Franklin County School System as the supervisor of elementary education, federal programs and assessment.

Mayor Crabtree highlighted Marilee’s career objectives as typifying what opportunities he would like to see continually available to young adults just starting out. He added that his daughter would like to return to Winchester and establish a veterinary practice in her hometown, and he would like to see other native Franklin County youths be able to follow similar paths.

Crabtree said, as a businessman, he would like to carry through with the focus he has with his own business-strategy firm, The Crabtree Group, and as an area realtor.

“Running it like a business eliminates many of the challenges that you’d be facing,” he said, adding that he will always harbor a focus on keeping Winchester as tax-friendly as possible.

Crabtree is a 1986 Franklin County High School graduate who later graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a minor in economics and finance.

He started his career in 1991 with telecommunications conglomerate Cellular One as the field was developing and served as a commercial account executive for an eight-county region, later becoming a quality and sales trainer.

Crabtree joined Fortune Management, a firm that provides business-management education to the health industry, in 1998 and served as a business and leadership coach where he expanded healthcare practices throughout North America and eventually became chief executive officer of Fortune Management of Tennessee.

In 2005, Crabtree purchased the Emory Building at 136 First Ave. N.W., just off the Winchester Square, and started The Crabtree Group where he continues to accommodate clients.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Crabtree had written a best-selling book, sold through Amazon, called “Dental Profits” that highlights his strategies for management growth. The book focuses on ways to increase revenue for dental practices without having to increase patient numbers to achieve financial goals.

Crabtree said that after 24 years, he still enjoys managing business growth and has combined it with a new passion — real estate.

Crabtree truly took a progressive community step forward in 2006 when he joined with other Winchester business leaders and started what he deems his most important work — forming the Winchester Downtown Program Corp, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to revitalizing and improving the downtown area.

He added that for most of the past 15 years, he has served as the organization’s chairman and has helped it manage an $8 million investment to reconstruct and revitalize what has become a vibrant downtown area.

Crabtree said the WDPC’s objectives are paramount in promoting Winchester and keeping it as an attractive community for visitors wishing to relocate. He added that placing an emphasis on retail opportunities strongly bolsters the economy, and he plans to be just as active in promoting the industrial side as mayor.

Crabtree said the area recently received a huge economic shot in the arm when the Tennessee College of Applied Technology opened in Winchester, giving young adults a great opportunity to learn vocational skills so they can remain with solid jobs in their hometown area.

He added that TCAT has been attracting students from neighboring counties and other parts of the state, further promoting Winchester’s name and its economy.

“I’m awfully proud of it,” Crabtree said, referring to the vo-tech school. “It is a drawing card and brings people in from all over.”

Crabtree said that the COVID pandemic highlighted why he deems the nation should be less dependent on importing products and should become more self-reliant. He used an example where electronic-chip production had halted and left the nation at a technological standstill.

He said the TCAT facility has the foundation to attract potential industries that can pave the way toward the nation becoming more self-reliant due to having a stable, trained workforce at the local level.