Home is Where Dreams Grow: How Chattanooga, TN, Attracts Top Talent
Greater Chattanooga is attracting young creatives, entrepreneurs and visionaries in search of a community that nourishes their dreams and offers a welcoming place to live while they come true. What do a financial mover and shaker, a brewery owner and a man who loves tiny homes have in common? They all love to live in Greater Chattanooga. Here, they explain.
Entrepreneur’s Paradise
Cam Doody originally considered Chattanooga a kind of “drive-over” city as he commuted from Knoxville to Auburn, where he attended college. After college, he co-founded Bellhop in Birmingham — now a major moving company. When Doody came to Chattanooga to work with Lamp Post Group, a venture incubator, he says he “really saw the city for the first time.”
“It was a jaw-dropping moment,” Doody recalls. “I thought, ‘How could I not have known about this place?’ It was such a vibrant community with so much civic pride. We felt a real genuine interest from everyone we met. A lot of cities seem to feel threatened when newcomers arrive. They keep you at arm’s length until you’ve earned your stripes. But Chattanooga is such a welcoming city. People just ask, ‘What do you want to do?’ The doors are default- open in this city.”
In 2022, Doody and partners launched Brickyard, a unique venture capital firm that invests in fledgling companies and invites them to live and develop in Chattanooga. Clients who relocate are provided with a sophisticated working environment and residential facilities.
Brickyard’s clients, Doody says, are drawn by many of the same things he loves about the city.
“The people moving here are coming less because a giant company is based here. Talent wants to come here more because, as consumers, the city is attractive,” he says.
Monkey Town Brewing: A Family Legacy Returns to the Chattanooga Area
For Kirby Garrison, moving to the Chattanooga area meant returning to his family’s roots. With his father, Alan Garrison, he owns Monkey Town Brewing Co. in Dayton, Tennessee.
Garrison started life in Chattanooga, “bounced around” for a bit, then spent six years in Dayton, his father’s hometown.
The family moved to Long Island, New York, when he was a teen for his father’s career in the restaurant business. Kirby, too, worked in the business, fueling a passion that couldn’t be dampened by a college degree in English.
“I was trying to figure out what to do next, and Dad suggested opening a brewery in Tennessee,” he says. “It seemed like a good idea, so I moved back here in 2014.”
For the next seven years, the Garrisons raised money, polished their ideas and laid the groundwork for Monkey Town Brewing Co., opening the first of three locations in Dayton.
Garrison doesn’t have much time off, but when he does, he says, “I’m more of a city guy.”
“I like to spend time in downtown Chattanooga. It’s a great walkable city with lots of things to do. I’m a huge comedy fan and music lover. I enjoy events at The Signal, I love going to concerts and shows, and the food scene is fantastic.”
Simpler Way of Life
Having grown up in Northern Minnesota, James Schulz used to travel extensively for work and lived in Minneapolis; Augusta, Georgia; and New York City. He was looking for something different when he joined Wind River Tiny Homes in Cleveland, Tennessee, as sales lead.
“I drove through Chattanooga, and I just immediately fell in love,” Schulz says. “It was so beautiful. I never considered living in Tennessee until I drove through and realized how beautiful it is. I didn’t want to go back to New York.”
He didn’t. Part of the attraction was the intangible quality of his new company itself.
“I had this dream to work for a tiny home builder,” he says. “I believe this is the future of housing, a way to help with the housing crisis we’re going through. And this was a place and people I wanted to be working with, a company that shared my values. Plus, it had a slower pace and the outdoors. It checked all my boxes.”
Schulz relocated to Cleveland in 2023 and hasn’t looked back. He has made great friendships and is saving to buy land and build a home. He raves about the area’s lakes (“I grew up in Minnesota, so water is in my blood”) and enjoys rafting on the Ocoee River, hiking in the Nantahala National Forest, exploring downtown Chattanooga, golfing at area courses and going to local concerts.
Get to Know Greater Chattanooga
Want to learn more about living and working in Greater Chattanooga? Check out the latest edition of Greater Chattanooga Economic Development.