Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From Chattanooga:

• The Company Lab has extended the application deadline for its inaugural “CO.LAB Sustainable Mobility Accelerator powered by gener8tor” to October 15. As a result, the program that was scheduled to begin September 11 and end November 15 will now start January 18 and end on April 12. According to Angela Poffenbaugh, CO.LAB Communications Specialist, plans have not changed about having two cohorts a year.
• The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) is celebrating 18 military veterans who completed the latest cohort of its Veterans Entrepreneurship Program (VEP). Hosted by the Gary W. Rollins College of Business, the VEP is a nationally acclaimed program that offers free training, mentoring, and management expertise for small businesses founded by military veterans. The program is now in its 11^th year. Click here to learn more about VEP and the participants.
• Separately, Mina Sartipi, Executive Director of the UTC Research Institute and a Guerry Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, was one of just five university researchers invited to discuss their work with the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and other members of the U.S. Congress recently. Her focus was on the groundbreaking work underway in smart mobility research, development and applications. Click here to learn more.
• On Saturday, The Enterprise Center’s (EC) Tech Goes Home program celebrated its 10,000^th graduate with a special brunch celebration for past participants, their families, and the EC’s many area partners including the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County Government), EPB, La Paz, Hamilton County Schools, and Bridge Refugee Services. Tech Goes Home is a digital inclusion and workforce development program that offers classes tailored to older adults, teachers, entrepreneurs, artists, kids, and anyone else who could benefit from tech training and an affordable device. To learn more, read the EC’s news release (TGH Celebrates 10,000th Graduate).
• The Chattanooga Technology Council is accepting nominations through August 11 for its 2023 “Technology Excellence (TechX) Awards.” There are 12 categories, and nominations can be made at this link. The winners will be announced and honored at an event on September 28 at The Signal.

From Oak Ridge:

In late June, Mike Laufer, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kairos Power, shared the news (see teknovation.biz article here) that the company planned to expand its planned footprint in the city with Hermes 2. The latter would be a two-reactor facility that would be built alongside  Hermes 1 with each reactor producing 14 megawatts of electricity that would go on the grid. The company has now followed through on that promise, according to an article in World Nuclear News, by submitting an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on July 14 for permission to build Hermes 2.

From Cookeville:

The Biz Foundry has reached an important milestone – its 10^th anniversary of serving entrepreneurs in the Upper Cumberland region, so there’s going to be a celebration later this week. It will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. CDT at the Cookeville location, 114 North Cedar Avenue. If you’re in the area, you are invited. To register, click here.

From Nashville:

• DevDigital, a Nashville-based digital transformation consultancy founded in 2008, has been acquired by Blattner Tech, another Nashville enterprise that provides predictive transformation services, products and solutions in the data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning industry. Peter Marcum, DevDigital’s Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner, grew the company to more than 130 employees. According to the announcement, he will transition out of the business and devote his energies to Kernel Equity LLC.
• The Nashville Entrepreneur Center has announced that “Telehealth Academy III” will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. CDT on September 21 at The Bell Tower in the downtown area. With a focus on policy, technology, care at home, and efficient solutions addressing workforce challenges, this year’s program is presented by eVisit, a leading virtual care platform built to help health systems  and large, complex healthcare organizations deliver an efficient, engaging virtual care experience. To learn more and to register, click here.

From Nashville but with Statewide Implications:

The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) has announced plans to allocate up to $185 million in federal stimulus funds to grants that expand internet access in Tennessee. According to the announcement last week, there are two buckets of funding:

• Up to $60 million will be offered under the  TNECD’s “Last Mile Grant Program” to internet service providers to offer services across unserved and underserved areas in Hardin, Wayne, and Polk Counties. These communities lack broadband at speeds of 100/20 Megabits per second (Mbps) and were selected due to their percentage of unserved and underserved residential locations compared to other counties in the state.
• Up to $125 million will be offered to internet service providers in all other counties in Tennessee that lack internet at speeds of 100/20 Mbps. That allocation is under the department’s “Middle Mile Grant Program,” and each grantee must have a last mile component and provide new and/or improved service in unserved or underserved areas.

Grant applications will open for both programs on September 4 and close October 16. TNECD anticipates making these grant announcements by early 2024. Prior to the grant application window, internet service providers will have the opportunity to challenge the state’s eligibility maps to ensure that served and unserved areas are accurately represented. The challenge process begins July 24 and closes on August 11.

From England but about Nashville:

Business Chief, a United Kingdom-based digital platform for business leaders, has named Nashville as one of the six of the best cities for entrepreneurs in the U.S. It writes the following about Music City: “Nashville is more than deserving of a place among the US’ best cities for entrepreneurship. This southeastern city, which has become known as the nation’s healthcare capital, is home to many of the original for-profit hospital chains and backed up by hundreds of industry start-ups. Nashville’s rising popularity is no surprise when one considers the great weather, friendly neighbourhoods and diversifying business community. There’s also ample office space and a growing abundance of co-working spots. Moreover, organisations like the Jumpstart Foundry and Nashville Entrepreneur Center are fantastic when it comes to supporting early-stage companies, providing funding, training and mentoring.”

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