After six years of operation, FoundersForge officially named regional entrepreneur center for Northeast Tennessee
“Becoming the Regional Entrepreneur Center for Northeast Tennessee is about making sure every founder in the region, no matter what county they live in, has a clear front door to the same resources as anyone else in the state,” said the center's executive director, David Nelson.
“There’s a massive opportunity for us to have entrepreneurship at the forefront of our economic development,” said David Nelson, the executive director of FoundersForge, which was just selected by LaunchTN as the Regional Entrepreneur Center Network Partner for Northeast Tennessee.
The Northeast region encompasses eight counties, with the FoundersForge base being located centrally in Johnson City at Spark Plaza Coworking. The entrepreneurial resource organization has served Northeast Tennessee entrepreneurs since 2020, and will continue to do so in a new, expanded capacity.
For Nelson, the partnership with the state is a huge step forward for regional entrepreneurs.
“It felt like the request for proposals (RFP) was written for us in a lot of ways. It just felt like such a good fit,” Nelson said. “We can’t wait to build on the work we’ve already started.”
A chance to grow the region, economically
From its Johnson City office, FoundersForge will serve Hancock, Hawkins, Sullivan, Johnson, Carter, Washington, Unicoi and Greene counties.
“The whole eight-county region encompasses half a million people, many of whom are spread across rural areas,” Nelson said. “We see the opportunity to bring together a diverse group of entrepreneurs to build all kinds of businesses.”
Isaac Deel, the Marketing Manager for FoundersForge, approaches the conversation of economic development from the perspective of a young person who decided to stay in the Tri-Cities area and build a life and career.
“The mission hits personally for me because I believe entrepreneurship is a great way for people to stay here, especially our younger generation,” he said. “As students come through East Tennessee State University (ETSU) and other area colleges, it’s important they see the community of people who build successful companies here.”
FoundersForge has already been able to do this through its flagship programming like the Startup Mountain Summit, which attracts hundreds of founders across the region, outside speakers, and funders from across the state. As well as the Pitch, which has been historically hosted at the baseball park, barring inclement weather.
They have also expanded their programming to be accessible to anyone, anywhere, through their virtual 6-week business bootcamp, Avante.
And most recently, Nelson and his team rolled out an initiative called the AI Academy, which taught 12 people for six weeks AI skills, like how to design and build software products.
“Of our 12 participants, every single one walked away with a usable product, meaning we had a 100% retention rate. And, two of those participants even went on to launch companies around the products they developed,” Nelson shared.
These are just three examples of program impacts FoundersForge pioneered before landing the partnership with Launch Tennessee.
“FoundersForge already has a strong presence in the area and knows the work and stakes,” said LaunchTN CEO Lindsey Cox. “The organization is primed to continue its first-rate work in Northeast Tennessee.”
What to expect in the first year?
Nelson and his team have big plans for FoundersForge, which is no doubt part of the reason why they secured the partnership with the state.
They, of course, plan to continue to expand existing programs like the annual Startup Mountain Summit, Avante programming, and AI Academy. But they also see a need for new programming in new parts of the region.
“We think the best way to do this is to seed partner organizations to help us host events and close resource gaps in the region,” Nelson said. One of the ideas they are tossing around is to partner with ambassadors in each of the eight counties to be the physical “front door” connection for entrepreneurial resources.
In addition, Nelson noted that capital resources and access are a roadblock or hurdle for regional founders. FoundersForge plans to address this in two ways: through a technical assistance fund and a capital readiness program.
The technical assistance fund would help early-stage founders obtain business credentials and tax assistance and other financial barriers when they’re in startup mode.
The capital readiness initiative is something Nelson is working with LaunchTN to help Northeast Tennessee founders take better advantage of the InvestTN funds.
“We’ve seen our ecosystem go from 12 high-growth startups in 2016 to more than 100 viable businesses today,” Nelson said. “But a lot of them are moving into a stage where they need capital support to continue to grow; that’s where the capital readiness initiative comes in.”
FoundersForge joins eight other regional entrepreneur centers in LaunchTN’s network, which spans the state from Memphis to the Tri-Cities.
Learn more about FoundersForge here.
Like what you've read?
Forward to a friend!