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Weekend edition September 27, 2024 | Katelyn Keenehan

News Roundup: Governor visits town, leaders emerge, and Innov865 week is on the horizon

The Weekend News Roundup features stories related to local business, technology, entrepreneurship, economy, events, and innovation.

The Knoxville Chamber’s annual breakfast featured Governor Bill Lee and an economic outlook for the local community and state. The governor kicked things off by pointing out an obvious win for East Tennessee – the epicenter of nuclear energy activity.

“There’s a renaissance in nuclear energy that’s happening in a bipartisan way,” Lee said. “There are very few conversations that take place about nuclear energy that don’t involve Tennessee.”

Aside from the nuclear boom, Lee discussed the thriving state of Tennessee’s economics and how we can continue to prepare for future growth.

“We need to think about 20 years from now, as the state grows at record speed,” he said. “90 of the 95 counties have had people moving in versus moving out, which is a good thing.”

Leadership Knoxville announces new class

The LK Class of 2025, presented by TVA, is the 41st class of Leadership Knoxville. The mission is to build a stronger Knoxville by developing people and groups, leading to a greater community and region. With a strong continuum of leadership programs from Youth to Seniors, LK strives to live out its vision of creating not just any leader, but Servant Leaders.

“TVA is proud to continue its longstanding support of Leadership Knoxville by again serving as the Flagship Program sponsor,” TVA East Region Executive and 2017 LK graduate Bert Robinson said. “This is a fitting partnership for TVA and our mission to lead the way in improving life across the Tennessee Valley. Cultivating the next generation of community leaders is critical to that mission. We extend our congratulations to this year’s class and look forward to the exciting impacts they’re sure to make on our future.”

The Class of 2025 includes sixty-one leaders from the highest level of organizations of all kinds, from all sectors. It also includes 3 recipients of the James A. Haslam Scholarship and the inaugural recipient of the newly established Honey Alexander Memorial Scholarship.

“Great Cities don’t just happen.  Great Cities happen because of great leaders.”

Read more about the current LK Class.

Innov865 Week is here!

Innov865 Week is a weeklong celebration of Knoxville’s entrepreneurial spirit that brings together startups, entrepreneurs, makers, investors, business leaders, students, and community leaders from across East Tennessee for a week of educational panels, pitch competitions, investor roundtables, and social events. It is presented by the Innov865 Alliance, a coalition that develops, supports, and promotes the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Divided into five tracks, Innov865 Week highlights various elements of the Alliance’s mission to develop, support, and promote the Knoxville region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and its collaborative effort to celebrate and showcase Knoxville as a great place for all entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses and increase access to capital. The five tracks include innovator, emerging entrepreneur, maker, investor, and experience 865.

Startup Day 2024 will run from 1:00 to 5:00 pm on October 1.

At Startup Day, entrepreneurs showcase their local start-ups to a panel composed of venture capitalists, angel investors, and industry leaders. Pitches are followed by a Q&A from the panel about their business and why they chose to grow their company in Knoxville. Cash prizes are awarded through crowd participation, totaling $15,000.



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