|| Mark Cate ||

Mark Cate

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Mark Cate

( Tennessee,  )

Stones River Group

Introduction

Mark Cate is the Founder and President of Stones River Group, a Nashville-based public affairs firm serving both Tennessee, regional and national clients. He formerly served as Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam's chief of staff, where he was his top advisor, strategist and negotiator.

Achievements  Client List  Number of Years as a Lobbyist  Biography 
Achievements

I have been recognized by the Nashville Post list of In-Charge: Government & Politics for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022

Our firm was recognized nationally by the Public Relations Society of America for our comprehensive public affairs campaign to bring Major League Soccer to Nashville

Clients

1) Acadia Healthcare

2) ACT Education Corp.

3) Advantage Capital

4) Aunt Bertha, a Public Benefit Corporation d/b/a findhelp

5) BlackRock Funds Services Group, LLC

6) Blount Partnership

7) Campaign for Great Public Schools dba as City Fund Action

8) CG of Tennessee LLC

9) CMH Services Inc.

10) Cognia

11) Communities In Schools of Tennessee

12) CooperSurgical

13) Critical Nurse Staffing, LLC

14) Curriculum Associates, LLC

15) DELTA DENTAL OF TN

16) DGA Residential LLC

17) Emerald Youth Foundation

18) Energy Systems Group, LLC

19) Ernst & Young LLP

20) Esper Regulatory Technologies Inc.

21) FACT

22) Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc.

23) Graduation Alliance, Inc

24) Greater Nashville Regional Council

25) INGRAM INDUSTRIES, INC.

26) Jackson Madison County School System

27) Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee

28) Kleo, Inc. d/b/a ClassWallet

29) Knox County

30) Knoxville Zoological Gardens Inc.

31) Koch Government Affairs, LLC and Affiliates

32) L3Harris Technologies

33) Lorraine Civil Rights Foundation dba National Civil Rights Museum

34) Maximus, Inc.

35) Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc

36) Memphis Shelby Crime Commission

37) Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority

38) Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare

39) Nashville Soccer Holdings, LLC

40) PathGroup

41) PayIt, LLC

42) Possip, Inc.

43) SAS Institute Inc.

44) SME Education Foundation

45) Southeastern University, Inc

46) Southern College of Optometry

47) STV Incorporated

48) Tech901

49) Tennessee Charter School Center

50) The Adoption Project

51) The United Company

52) TN Development District Assn

53) Uptown Property Holdings LLC

54) WASTE MANAGEMENT

55) Wolf River Harbor Holdings, LLC

56) YMCA of Memphis and the Mid-South

Number of Years as a Lobbyist

6-10 years

Biography

Mark Cate is the Founder and President of Stones River Group, a Nashville-based public affairs firm serving both Tennessee, regional and national clients. He formerly served as Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam's chief of staff, where he was his top advisor, strategist and negotiator.

During his tenure with the Haslam Administration, Mark led several legislative policy initiatives, including K-12 education reform, workers' compensation reform, civil service reform, an alternative approach to Medicaid expansion, and postsecondary education reform, including the nationally-acclaimed Tennessee Promise program.

Prior to serving in state government, Mark successfully managed Governor Haslam's first gubernatorial campaign in 2010, which led to a record-setting general election victory. He previously worked as an executive in real estate management and development and served for 16 years as a higher education leader. Over the course of his career, Mark has served as a chief development officer, chief planning officer, chief marketing officer, and as a chief financial officer—working on budgets ranging from $10 million to $30 billion.

Mark grew up in Maryville, TN and currently lives in Brentwood with his wife Cathy who serves as the Executive Director of Leadership Tennessee. He and Cathy have two daughters, Bailey who is a recent graduate at Rhodes College and currently serves as a fellow at the Crop Trust in Bonn, Germany; and Abbie who is rising junior at George Washington University.

Cate received a B.S from Carson-Newman College, an M.S from the University of Tennessee, and Harvard University's Institute for Educational Management certificate program. He's served on a wide variety of non-profit boards and was an elected member of the Maryville Board of Education.

Last Updated: September 28, 2025