Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Neil Koonce has built companies, led teams, and traveled across the world to coach startups, but he says the moments that matter most are the ones spent helping people through life’s hardest days.

That mindset is now shaping his new role as executive director of the Moser Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at Carson-Newman University.

A serial entrepreneur and longtime figure in Knoxville’s business community, Koonce brings decades of operating experience and a service-focused leadership style to the two-year-old Center. 

At 30, he launched his first company in healthcare revenue cycle management, serving hospitals across East Tennessee and beyond. As the business grew, he founded another firm centered on staffing and fractional HR solutions.

He continued to diversify, including opening a coffee shop in the historic Regas building with a group of partners. The goal was not a community hangout or a trendy business venture, but rather a revenue-generating opportunity to support missionary families overseas. The shop served its first cup of coffee two months before the pandemic; needless to say, the timing of that venture was challenging.

But, across all these business opportunities, Koonce said, the purpose stayed the same. He has always had a heart for people.

While operating several businesses, he also served on nonprofit boards, worked with the Knox Leadership Foundation, and helped organize skill-based mission trips to developing countries. These trips were designed to teach international missionaries and founders essential business skills, from bookkeeping to marketing to technology troubleshooting.

“For example, two years ago, I took 10 business folks here from Knoxville, and we went to Egypt to train other business people. The partner we were working with over there had a business accelerator and a business incubator. We spent five days over there meeting with startups, coaching them, and providing resources,” Koonce said.

Carson Newman was a natural next step to blend faith and work

In late 2025, Koonce approached the end of a major chapter. 

“Three years ago, I merged my company, Healthcare Receivables Group, with another firm, Revco,” he said. “I agreed that I would stick around for three years, and I did… deciding that December 31, 2025, would be my last day.”

Stepping back from the business gave him space to reflect. Koonce said that what mattered most were not the financial wins but the lives he had touched through leadership.

“To me, the moments that stand out are going to the funerals of the parents of an employee, helping someone about to lose their home, or praying with someone who is going into a risky surgery,” he said. “I started thinking and praying about the future – what was I going to do? And then I got a call from Carson Newman.”

Koonce said his passion has long been the intersection of faith and work. 

“Work was created for purpose, in my opinion,” he said.

Carson-Newman’s identity as a private Christian university aligned directly with those values, and the mission of the Moser Center aligned even more closely. The Center seeks to prepare students to become entrepreneurs who lead with integrity, service, and a clear sense of calling. For Koonce, that alignment felt immediate.

To say the role energizes him is an understatement. He described a sense of “freshness” and renewed purpose each day.

“I joke that I’ve been the first and last car in the parking lot every day, but it’s just because I’m so passionate about this mission,” he said.

Inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs in East Tennessee

The Moser Center was dedicated in 2024 to Jefferson County businessman J. Moser, a respected sixth-generation entrepreneur who spent decades in the liming industry. J died just two months after the dedication ceremony. 

While alive, his vision was simple but significant: students may earn degrees, even MBAs, without ever developing an entrepreneurial mindset.

“J’s idea behind this Center was to teach entrepreneurial principles that he felt were lacking. Somebody could obtain a bachelor’s degree, even an MBA, but might not be very entrepreneurial-minded. We need to get successful entrepreneurs in front of these students,” Koonce said. “If it has not been modeled for you, then you may not be able to realize that you can do it.”

Last year, the Moser Center hosted its first pitch contest, featuring eight student participants. Koonce hopes to grow those numbers in 2026. More broadly, he hopes to inspire more students to view entrepreneurship as a viable and meaningful career path.

My goal would be that I want to see more students come through the MBA program, declaring an entrepreneurial leadership specialization at Carson-Newman,” he said.

In his first three weeks on the job, Koonce has been busy. He has interviewed faculty and community partners, reviewed all documents related to the Center, and created a mind map outlining priorities and expansion ideas.

Koonce steps into the director role following the retirement of the Center’s inaugural leader, John Morris. 

Read more about the Moser Center.

 

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