Sky’s the Limit for Entrepreneurs in Blount County

Thanks to great resources like the Sky City Entrepreneur Center, small businesses can get the support they need to succeed.

By Kim Madlom on January 2, 2024

Nathan Lambrecht

Successful entrepreneurs equal successful communities. Blount County solves that equation with entities like Sky City Entrepreneur Center, which creates space and a support system for existing businesses and helps entrepreneurs achieve their dreams. 

“Small businesses give our community its flavor,” says Shannon Bryant, Sky City community manager. “They care about Blount County as a whole and their individual communities like Maryville and Townsend. They enhance these communities through their presence and contributions. Sky City is dedicated to helping small businesses succeed, which helps our communities succeed.” 

Located in downtown Maryville, Sky City is at the heart of the region’s growth. The center is an affordable place where people can do their work, whether it is remote for a company or for themselves. The center is also a launchpad for innovators. 

“We realized not everyone is served by desks,” she says. “We wanted to find ways to reach those people, help them and uplift them. We do that through programs.” 

Nathan Lambrecht

Growing a Business in Blount County

Those programs include CO. STARTERS, a 10-week, cohort-based program that equips entrepreneurs with the insights, relationships and tools needed to turn ideas into action. Participants enter into a facilitator-led, collaborative process with like-minded peers and leave the program with a deeper understanding of how to create a sustainable venture, articulate their models and repeat the process with the next great idea. 

“We keep the number to 12 to make sure the cohort is small enough so that every entrepreneur gets the attention they need and the opportunity to form relationships,” Bryant says. 

“The CO.STARTERS class was amazing,” says Ken Colclough, owner of KC Roasters of Maryville. “From start to finish, it taught me things that never occurred to me about starting and running a business, from finding your brand to business math to figuring out your demographic. It’s all there. Plus, there’s networking. We’re all there to help each other.” 

Colclough started KC Roasters in 2021. “Community reception has been nothing but positive,” he says. “It’s been a blast watching this grow from a hobby to a fledgling business. I started roasting just because of the necessity for awesome coffee. Now, I feel like I’m filling a specific niche.” 

Daniel and Renee Ritchey had a side hustle doing windows and other services, but in late 2022, they launched their business full time. “We felt the Lord called us to start a business, and we went for it,” Daniel Ritchey says. 

TN Exterior Cleaning offers services including cleaning windows, exteriors and roofs. In the future, he envisions a multi-crew business that serves the community’s needs. 

“CO.STARTERS has been fantastic,” Daniel Ritchey says. “We were already in business, but it still has been a helpful experience. The networking is so valuable, and we’ve had referrals from the group. It’s been positive from start to finish.” 

Nathan Lambrecht

Fulfilling a Dream 

Tim and Yvonne Smith are the owners and creators of Creative Spark Studio, a local DIY arts and craft studio founded in July 2020 for people of all ages and all abilities. 

“We offer walk-in projects like glass fusing, pottery painting, string art, metal stamped jewelry and more,” Yvonne Smith says. “Additionally, we have a Splatter Vault, where customers can fling, flick and splatter paint into a canvas.” 

Creative Spark Studio also hosts teacher-led classes, including sewing, realistic drawing, jewelry making, weaving, blacksmithing, sip and paints, and watercolor. 

Their professional backgrounds are in engineering, nursing and teaching, so the CO.STARTERS program was attractive to them to hone their business skills. 

“We got involved with CO.STARTERS to review what we’ve done while starting our business and to see  what we could do better while still collaborating with our community,” Yvonne Smith says.

“Our time in this program has given us lots of resources and relationships with mentors in our community who have a passion for small business and Blount County. Our goals are to keep learning and improving, and to be a destination for our community to create, to make art and memories with friends and loved ones.” 

“We were founded on the dream of helping local entrepreneurs,” Bryant says. “We are growing. The more the community participates in what we offer, the more we can bring those dreams to life here.”