Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Knoxville Business News Tennessee Mountain Scenery Background
November 21, 2021 | Tom Ballard

Here’s a wrap-up of news items from around the region

Want to relive a portion or all of two recent events in Knoxville? If so, the sponsors have provided you with the opportunity.

The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center hosted an event last week honoring the 19 area honorees on the latest “Inc. Magazine 5000″ list of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. Here’s a link to the sizzle reel from the opening portion of the program that we referenced in last week’s teknovation.biz article. And, the Knoxville Technology Council has posted a nearly 150-minute video from its “KTech PULSE Technology Summit” that was held a couple of weeks ago. You can relive the entire celebration at this link.

From Knoxville:

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) and MSC Industrial Supply Company have announced a public-private research partnership aimed at advancing machining across the U.S. Under the partnership, MSC’s team of professional metalworking specialists will work closely with  undergraduate and graduate students, as well as manufacturers, to conduct research that will enable and drive innovation in smart manufacturing. To reflect MSC’s commitment to machining research as a premier distributor of metalworking products and services to industrial customers, the Machine Tool Research Center on the UTK campus will host the MSC Machining Research Laboratory. The announcement can be found here.

From Johnson City:

As noted in the third article in this this February teknovation.biz series focused on Scott Andrew, the “Rugged Entrepreneur,” there were big plans to utilize the new location of Tennessee Hills Brewing and Distilling to launch a new minor in Brewing and Distillation Studies at East Tennessee State University (ETSU). Those plans were formally announced last week. Students choosing the minor must complete 21 credits. The first required course is “Introduction to Brewing and Distillation Studies,” and it will be offered in the Spring 2022 semester. Click here to read the ETSU news release.

From Nashville:

Jumpstart Health Investors (JHI), the parent firm of three funds, has a new CEO. His name is Doug Edwards, well-known in the Nashville healthcare community.

The news was included in the monthly update from Eller (Malchok) Kelliher, Managing Director of Jumpstart Foundry. She provided the following additional information: “As a refresher Jumpstart Health Investors (JHI) is the parent firm of our three funds, Jumpstart Foundry (JSF)Jumpstart Capital (JSC), and the most recent addition, Jumpstart Nova (JSN). Our co-founder and former CEO, Vic Gatto, has chosen to focus his efforts on the investment side of the business by moving to become Managing General Partner of Jumpstart Capital and Chief Investment Officer of JHI. And JHI’s other co-founder Marcus Whitney is leading Jumpstart Nova as Managing General Partner. I will continue to oversee all pre-seed stage investments as the Managing Director of Jumpstart Foundry. It is an inspiring time for us at Jumpstart, and we’re all very excited!”

From Chattanooga:

Jennifer Bronson, who most recently served as Chief of Staff for Hamilton County Schools, has been named Executive Director of Chattanooga 2.0. The appointment was announced last week by Christy Gillenwater, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.

Chattanooga 2.0 is a cradle-to-career collaborative in Chattanooga and Hamilton County formed in 2015 to transform education and workforce development outcomes. Led by stakeholders representing community, business, nonprofit, public, and educational institutions, Chattanooga 2.0 is described as “a cross-sector partnership” focused on all students – from early childhood through K-12 and higher education.

From Washington, DC

A former three-term Mayor of Greenville, NC has been named Region IV Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Allen Thomas will oversee agency programs, offices, and operations in SBA’s Southeast region which includes Tennessee as well as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Thomas is a serial entrepreneur, co-founding healthcare technology startup IQMax, which grew to service 160 medical facilities in 36 states, processing 18 million patient records per day.

 


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