Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Yvonnca Landes has spent 25 years building community — first through real estate, and now through the moments people remember long after the party ends.

A Knoxville company backed by robotics and paint industry giants is using patented color science to match customers to custom foundation shades in real time.

Trillium already built the world's first bio-based acrylonitrile demonstration plant. The $13 million Series B means they can actually keep its lights on, and plan for what's next.

Kinley Koontz learned how broken systems operate at the highest levels in Washington, D.C. Now, she’s back home in East Tennessee, applying that same diagnostic mindset to two of the region’s most urgent challenges: corporate technology transformation and the accelerating loss of family farmland.

Technical Response in Hardin Valley makes every customized Gatorade bottle on the planet. Now, it's building a business with a diverse set of product and service offerings.

“When you look at the amount of people that are getting into the non-W2 income pool, it's just growing every day. We want to support that growth, and break down one of the cons of entrepreneurship: income verification on the borrower and the bank side,” said founder Bryan Crosby.

For an emerging workforce that often sees their options as "get a job" or "build a business from scratch," franchising offers a third lane that comes with a proven business model.

Registered apprenticeships are gaining momentum in East Tennessee after an era where the internship has been king. A packed room at a recent Knoxville Chamber event made that point loud and clear.