Joe M. Rodgers (November 12, 1933 – February 2, 2009) was an American construction company executive and political operative who served as the United States Ambassador to France.
The two built a connection while walking the golf course and Frist offered Rodgers a contract to build a hospital in Erin, Tennessee, for HCA.
Rodgers and his subcontractors crossed the picket lines and were able to earn a bonus for completing the project two days early, which was accomplished by working on shifts around the clock.
He started American Constructors in 1979, which built Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Schermerhorn Symphony Center and the Wildhorse Saloon.
[5] Rodgers undertook a fundraising campaign to collect $500,000 to be used towards fixing up the ambassador's residence, raising $100,000 towards this goal by September 1985 after writing to 250 U.S. companies for donations.
[1] Rodgers accompanied President of France François Mitterrand on a Seine riverboat ride to the Île aux Cygnes where they unveiled a renovated replica of the Statue of Liberty, as part of ceremonies marking the centennial of the French gift to the United States.