News & Notes | Longtime Chattanooga business and civic leader has died
Sally Parker named Interim Executive Director of the Nashville Innovation Alliance.
From Chattanooga:
Joe Ferguson, who served as a civic and business leader in Chattanooga for six decades, has died. His passing came a few months short of his 92nd birthday.
Among his accomplishments was serving of the EPB board of directors for 28 years, including 20 as Chairman, including when EPB deployed the nation’s first gigabit network.
Ferguson was transferred to Chattanooga in 1963 and began what would be his 50-year manufacturing career starting at Chattanooga Glass. He became President of Burner Systems International, at that time the world’s largest original equipment manufacturer of gas burner tubes. Ferguson later formed and became President of Advanced Vehicle Systems which, with support from CARTA and several community leaders, manufactured the electric shuttle buses used in downtown Chattanooga and communities around the United States.
In 2003, then Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker named Ferguson to head up the Enterprise Center.
Memorial Services will be held at 2 p.m. EDT June 24 at Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church with Dr. Joey Sherrard, Dr. William Dudley, and Rev. Margaret Ferguson officiating.
From Knoxville:
The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center is accepting applications for three different programs.
- Applications for the 12th cohort of the 100Knoxville program are due on July 7. To apply, click here.
- Applications for the five-week “Starting Your Business 101” course are being accepted through July 14. To apply, click here.
- Applications for “The Maker City’s Expert E-Commerce” course close this Thursday. Click here to apply.
Another from Knoxville:
Registration is now open for this year’s “865 Fest.” There’s a new location – Bridgewater Place for what used to be known as Knoxville’s annual “Start-up Day.”
Presented by the Innov865 Alliance, it is now an all-day event running from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. EDT on September 16. With the addition of food, there is now a fee associated with the event.
To register, click here.
From Nashville:
Sally Parker, Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategy and Operations in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Government and Community Relations at Vanderbilt University, has been named as the Interim Executive Director of the Nashville Innovation Alliance.
Prior to joining the Government and Community Relations Division, she was Senior Assistant Provost in the Office of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, where she worked for nearly seven years as the Provost’s primary strategic project manager, overseeing the implementation of the Academic Strategic Plan. Before joining Vanderbilt, Parker served for three years on the team at Hall Strategies.
The Nashville Innovation Alliance was announced a year ago by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell and Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier. One of the goals is to facilitate a structure for increased coordination to develop initiatives to create a greater abundance of talent, a stronger network of investors, easy access to research, and dedicated space and programs for innovation.
Along with the appointment of Parker, the alliance announced the addition of three special advisors: Isaac Addae, noted futurist Richard Florida, and Kate Wittels.
From Knoxville:
Boston Harbor Angels (BHA) has named Winter Innovations Inc. as one of its Top 10 Founders.
In a social media post, Lia Winter, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, wrote, “A heartfelt thank you to Ziad Henry Moukheiber and all of our incredible BHA investors for your continued support. A special shoutout to our advisor Cliff Emmons – your guidance has been instrumental in shaping Winter Innovations. We’re proud to be part of the BHA portfolio and strive every day to live out the 7 Hs: Honest, Humble, Hard Working, Hurry, Humanity, Humor, and Hungry.”
Another from Nashville:
The deadline to apply for the Nashville Entrepreneur Center‘s Fall accelerators is June 30.
They include:
- TakeOff Accelerator for those ready to launch;
- InFlight Accelerator for those who are building momentum;
- Twendé Accelerator for Black founders with early traction;
- Project Healthcare Accelerator for those innovating in healthcare; and
- Project FinTech Accelerator for those building the future of finance.
All five programs start September 3. To apply, click here.
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