Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Here are some recent announcements that might be of interest.

• Corryton resident – that’s an unincorporated area of Knox County – John Bruck now has a new title. He’s Director of the Spark Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee Research Park. Readers may have noticed we made reference to the new role in an article last Friday, but we wanted to do an official callout.
• More details have been released about the upcoming “3686 Festival.” Hosted by Launch Tennessee, the in-person event returns to the Downtown Nashville area on September 22 and 23 with programming focused on three tracks: (1) “Leveling the Playing Field,” “Biz Ops and Strategy,” and “Digital Transformation.” On the evening of the first day, there will be a cocktail party at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center (NEC) celebrating Launch Tennessee’s partnership with the NEC to expand the latter’s very successful “Twende” program. The “3686 Festival” concludes with a closing party on the second day. Click here for more information and a link to registration.
• Abby Trotter, Executive Director of Life Science Tennessee and the BioTN Foundation, has been named one of the “Women to Watch” by Nashville Medical News. The Oak Ridge native helped found Hall Strategies in 2004. Click here to read the article about her selection.
• Oaklyn Consulting, the Chattanooga-based mergers, acquisitions and capital-raising consulting firm, has added Leah Williams as an Investor Communications Consultant. In this role, she will help Oaklyn’s client base of entrepreneurs and business owners present the story of their businesses to investors and lenders in a clear, persuasive way. Her previous clients include McCann, Ogilvy, The Weather Channel, Discovery Channel, Gap, Equinox, Landor, Ann Taylor/LOFT and Twilio. In addition, Williams has taught courses for the NASA Internship Program, The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, and Innovation Depot in Birmingham.
• Venture For America announced that it has hired Baltimore resident Eric Somerville as its new Chief Executive Officer. Currently the Vice President of Corporate and Civic Engagement at The Y in Central Maryland, he will join the national organization that provides two-year, entrepreneurial-focused fellowships for college graduates on August 3. The announcement said that Somerville has background in partnering with municipal agencies, academic institutions, neighborhood associations, local nonprofits, the private sector, and the philanthropic community.

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