Entrepreneurs: How to Find Your Place in Tennessee

If you're looking to launch a business, you can find plenty of great locations and entrepreneurial resources in Tennessee.

By Brianna Williams on November 17, 2023

Jeff Adkins

When it comes to creating a real sense of place, communities around the world are still striving for the best method. Everyone from parks organizations to urban design committees works tirelessly on the concept of placemaking: How can public spaces be created that are beneficial to everyone, feel like home, and promote health, happiness and general well-being? 

Tennessee communities have added another dimension, bringing entrepreneurs into the equation. From building up underserved small-business owners whose ideas will benefit others to supporting creative entrepreneurs who create cultural hubs, communities across the state are bringing new ideas into placemaking and generating new economic opportunities for all Tennesseans. 

Entrepreneurial Resources in Tennessee

Tennessee’s Placemakers Entrepreneurship Fund aims to bring these two pieces together by providing opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses that are a part of their communities. 

At LAUNCH Chattanooga, the fund has helped bolster programs and resources aimed at underserved entrepreneurs who may not always be highlighted or receive the support needed to start a business. 

“They provide funding for us to be able to better support the entrepreneurs we work with,” says Hal Bowling, LAUNCH co-CEO. 

The fund is available to nonprofits like LAUNCH that are dedicated to aiding small businesses, in addition to educational institutions and other entities with similar goals. 

Bowling says it’s important to help small businesses. “They make life happen, make community happen,” he says. “The small bread and butter businesses make a place, that’s why they’re so important.” 

Nathan Lambrecht

Creative Placemaking 

Creative entrepreneurs seek to accomplish similar goals of creating broader, more connected and more diverse communities – and to serve as a haven for creatives and artists. 

Take Maury County’s historic Columbia Arts Building, an artistic hub that brings the community together through the arts, offering everything from pottery and painting classes to a space for musicians and poets to create and perform. The building is not only a cornerstone of the city’s Arts District, it also serves as a cultural center for the area. 

In Maryville, Studio 212 brings art to its community through painting, drawing and clay classes for all – particularly children who may not get creative classes at school. 

“We focus on building art education in the community and giving kids something a little extra outside of their everyday school subjects,” says Leanne Moe, studio owner. 

Studio 212 partners with the parks and recreation department to offer classes in addition to its typical semester-long programs that are open to various ages and skill levels. 

Flint Chaney

Stove Works, a hybrid art exhibition space, residency program and educational resource in Chattanooga, is another great example of how the state’s creative entrepreneurs are building a sense of community through their spaces. 

The nonprofit offers a residency program for artists to live and work at Stove Works for one to three months at a time with no fee. 

These three creative spaces aren’t the only ones shining a light on the arts. Tennesseans around the state can find organizations or spaces that are bringing people together through creative entrepreneurship. 

Fund Tennessee Helping Startups

The U.S. Department of Treasury announced in 2023 that Tennessee is receiving $117 million to support small business growth. The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) will allocate the money to entrepreneurs and small-business owners through Fund Tennessee. 

TNECD is also working in close partnership with LaunchTN, a Nashville-based public-private nonprofit partnership whose vision is to make Tennessee the most entrepreneur-friendly and small business-friendly state in the nation. 

“The Fund Tennessee initiative is designed to empower small businesses to access the capital they need to invest in growth projects and job-creating opportunities,” says Lindsey Cox, LaunchTN CEO. “We at LaunchTN are primarily involved with leading and administering a project called InvestTN, which involves investing $70 million out of the $117 million Fund Tennessee total.” 

InvestTN involves interested Tennessee-located startups and small businesses filling out an application. After receiving the application, InvestTN/LaunchTN professionals review every applicant’s business model that shows startup costs, target markets, expertise and marketing strategy. 

“An important point is that all dollars allocated from InvestTN require a one-to-one match,” Cox says. “For example, if a startup is interested in securing $100,000, InvestTN needs to see another $100,000 of private capital raised before we make that investment. That is a federal requirement for these dollars.” 

Cox adds that any money allocated through InvestTN is designated as an equity investment, meaning that LaunchTN will secure some stock shares, a convertible note, a safe note or a percentage of the startup. 

“We want a return on those dollars, at which point we can reinvest that money into other Tennessee startups,” she says. “The whole program benefits founder businesses in Tennessee.” 

– Staff writer Kevin Litwin contributed to this article.