Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

During the opening session of Tuesday’s “3686” celebration in Nashville, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon told the story of a surprising answer she got to a question she asked during her first campaign for the office.

She had knocked on the door of a city resident who just happened to be a local entrepreneur. Although the Mayor did not know it at the time. When she asked the voter what she needed most from the city, the answer surprised her.

“We need more wet lab space,” the entrepreneur told her. Another was more childcare opportunities.

Mayor Kincannon learned that the individual was Anna Douglas, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SkyNano, a member of the inaugural cohort of the “Innovation Crossroads” program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) who opened a new facility recently in Louisville, TN.

Knoxville’s Chief Executive joined with her colleagues from the other big four cities to discuss what makes each of them unique and what sets them apart.

In the case of the newest of the group – Memphis Mayor Paul Young, he talked about the challenges that come from being the largest city in the country with the highest percentage of African American residents.

“The narrative around our city is not always positive,” he told attendees. That was the second greatest challenge the city and its entrepreneurs faced after the proverbial access to capital.

Perception was also top of mind for Metro Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell who said, “We have struggled as a city in moving beyond healthcare” as a primary entrepreneurial system driver.

For Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, it is the absence of a Research 1 university, something that the other Big 4 cities already have. “It’s a real hitch for us,” he said,

In the opening softball question from Lindsey Cox, CEO of Launch Tennessee, the “3686” event organizer, the Mayors cited what you might expect them to mention about their assets.

1. Mayor Kincannon talked about the University of Tennessee (UT) System and its main campus in Knoxville, Tennessee Valley Authority, and She also cited being an “entrepreneurial-friendly city” and a “fun place to live.”
2. Mayor O’Connell noted everything from the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, the oldest center in the state, and the Greater Nashville Technology Council to Vanderbilt University and other colleges and newer initiatives like the Nashville Venture Capital Association and the Nashville Innovation Alliance.
3. Mayor Young said he was “leaning into” organizations like the University of Memphis, the UT Health Science Center, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
4. Mayor Kelly emphasized the importance of meeting people where they are and the importance of the community’s start-up culture including Brickyard.

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