Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

From Knoxville:

• Launch Tennessee is bringing its next “Capital Conversations” to Knoxville from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. EST on December 3 at 121 Tech Hub in the Old City. The meetup, hosted by Pinnacle Financial Partners, will include representatives of  Launch Tennessee’s Capital team, financial sector experts from Pinnacle Financial Partners and Pathway Lending, and representatives from the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center. To register for the free event, click here.
• The Office of the Secretary of Defense Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) recognized Piper Communications Founder and President Cortney Piper as a Patriotic Employer for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participation in America’s National Guard and Reserve Force.

From Oak Ridge:

The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded an $88.8 million contract to Hensel Phelps for the construction of a facility to enrich stable isotopes at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

Construction of the single-story, 64,000-square-foot U.S. Stable Isotope Production and Research Center (SIPRC), funded by DOE’s Isotope Program (IP), is expected to take two years and be completed in Spring 2027. It will be located on the southeast side of ORNL’s main campus.

The $325 million SIPRC project will establish the capability to produce stable isotopes on a large scale to meet the Nation’s continually increasing demands for isotopes needed in medicine, industry, science and national security, and thus reducing U.S. dependence on foreign suppliers. The U.S. has had no existing domestic broad-scope enrichment capability since 1998, and its stockpiles of isotopes produced prior to that are being depleted.

From Nashville:

Ralph Schulz, who has served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce for 18 years, announced last Thursday that he intends to retire. He notified the Chamber’s board of directors of his plans although a timeline for the leadership change was not made available. Officials said he will remain in the role until the board agrees on a successor.

“Ralph has played a critically important role in the life of our region, and of this organization, for the better part of two decades as Chamber CEO, and for many more years than that as a community leader,” the Chamber’s Board Chair Wright Pinson said in a news release. “He will leave behind a legacy of tireless service and significant success.”

Schulz has led the Chamber through Nashville’s major growth spurt over the past decade and beyond, playing a pivotal role in attracting jobs and corporate headquarters like Amazon and Oracle to the region. Most recently, the Chamber has been expanding its focus on workforce development through programs to support K-12 students, college students, veterans, and young professionals amid an ongoing labor shortage.

From Memphis:

Rebecca Kaufman, Vice President of Regional Innovation Clusters (RICs) at Memphis-based AgLaunch, was one of the panelists on Friday when the U.S. Small Business Administration hosted its fourth annual and virtual “Innovation Ecosystem Summit.” She joined three others who spoke about “Developing Industry-Specific Programming and Small Business Support” for community-based initiatives.

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