It's almost like you read my mind. From your link...
Two California companies were transformative in our ‘it’ city theme,” said David Steele Ewing, a historian and ninth-generation Nashvillian. “One was Asurion, that moved its corporate headquarters in 2003 from San Mateo. That was a huge vote of confidence in the community. And in 2005, Nissan moved. Before Nissan moved here it was hard to get meetings with companies. But after, everyone took the meetings of the economic development team.”
Nashville further earned its sobriquet by luring well-known chefs who’ve opened now-packed restaurants and new hotels, Ewing said.