Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

During teknovation.biz’s holiday hiatus, we continued to monitor news of potential interest to our readers. It has not been a very robust news cycle, but here are those articles that we decided to include in our roundup.

From the East Tennessee region:

• Cadre5 recognized by NNSA – http://nnsa.energy.gov/blog/nnsa-small-business-week-2012-cadre5-supports-nnsa%E2%80%99s-global-threat-reduction-initiative.
• The News Sentinel’s Carly Harrington two interesting profiles – extensive interview with local entrepreneur Mike Carroll – http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/dec/23/unconventional-entrepreneur-michael-carroll-is/?partner=RSS and a shorter story on a couple who pursued their entrepreneurial ideas – http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/dec/28/carly-harrington-couple-finds-success-in/.
• Plans for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport are updated – http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/dec/20/oak-ridge-airport-plan-moves-ahead/?goback=%2Egde_2615375_member_198120208 .
• Meanwhile, just down I-75, the $40 million Cleveland Regional Jetport opens this month – http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/dec/30/new-jetport-to-fuel-cleveland-area/.
• Stone Mountain Technologies, Inc., of Unicoi received what was then an early Christmas present when the U. S. Department of Energy announced that it was one of six entities sharing a $9 investment in leading-edge building envelope technologies – http://www.doe.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-six-projects-develop-energy-saving-windows-roofs-and-heating.
• Nooga.com posted two interesting articles. One was a review of Chattanooga’s Gig City initiative during 2012 – http://www.nooga.com/159204/the-year-of-the-gig-a-look-back-and-forward/. The other talked about the city’s incubators – http://www.nooga.com/159211/the-incubator-trendchattanooga-is-on-board/.
• Long-time area economic development executive Jack Hammontree retired as of December 31 – http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/dec/29/jack-hammontree-winding-down-long-economic/.
• The top five manufacturing trends of 2012, as determined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, align very nicely with this region’s new Advanced Manufacturing Program – http://nistmep.blogs.govdelivery.com/2012/12/28/the-top-five-manufacturing-trends-of-2012/.

From other regions:

• Raleigh has hired a “glue” guy – http://www.raleighpublicrecord.org/news/2012/12/19/new-city-job-pushes-start-ups-to-start-and-stay-in-raleigh/ .
• Memphis-based Wright Medical Group, which is buying Franklin, TN-based BioMimetic Therapeutics, Inc., has reached a retention agreement with BioMimetic founder Sam Lynch – http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2012/12/wright-medical-strikes-agreement-with.html.
• Office cynicism can kill a start-up – http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121223/BIZ/312230012/Office-cynicism-corrosive-start-up.
• Companies are using social media in a variety of ways to better connect with customers – http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2012/12/23/chases-local-twitter-unit-part-of-social-media-trend-in-business.html.
• Leaders in Cincinnati, who are spearheading an effort to raise as much as $100 million for a “fund of funds,” have patterned their fund after Michigan’s Renaissance Venture Capital Fund – http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121223/BIZ/312230008/Michigan-s-model-inspires-Cintrifuse.
• Auburn, AL-based Angel Investor Management Group, which made four of its five 2012 investments in Huntsville, also has ties to Tennessee – http://blog.al.com/live/2012/12/angel_network_affords_members.html#incart_river.
• The Consumer Electronics Association has created a new, reduced membership category for start-ups – http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2012/12/27/2405924/cea-creates-new-membership-category.html.
• Two Wharton School graduates identify four things they learned as entrepreneurs, not as students – http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2012/12/28/4-things-they-dont-teach-you-at-wharton-about-entrepreneurship/.

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