Entrepreneur Week has descended upon Chattanooga. Through Friday, May 3, dozens of organizations will host talks and meetups at Finley Stadium, the convention center and elsewhere, for anyone (at any stage) in the local small business community.
Darian Scott said he’s excited about the fully booked lineup. Scott is the director of talent and economic inclusion for the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, which, alongside The Enterprise Center and City of Chattanooga, co-sponsors the organizing group, the Business Resource Collective. Partnership events will round out the week of activities and ensure there is something for anyone interested in connecting.
Including and supporting people underrepresented in Chattanooga’s small business scene is a core theme of the event.
“Our goal now is to grow a lot of these small – especially minority-owned – businesses,” Scott said.
The week forms one node of a much larger network helping regional startups and existing small businesses. The Business Resource Collective, or BRC, has been convening partner organizations — public, private and non-profit — since 2020. The outgrowth of a grant that never materialized, the BRC has been about commitment by partners to be proactively collaborative in their support for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“April 29 to May 3 is National Small Business Week,” explained City of Chattanooga Director of Entrepreneurship, Sarah Mattson. “There were already some amazing events scheduled in the community, so the Business Resource Collective decided to add a conference and offer educational and networking opportunities. By putting all the events under the umbrella of Chattanooga Entrepreneur Week, we can really create a lot of energy to educate and celebrate ingenuity in Chattanooga.”
While the BRC convenes regularly, organizers want Chattanooga Entrepreneur Week to be an annual event highlighting everything the entrepreneurial ecosystem has to offer — from TVFCU’s signature IdeaLeap Pitch Night to Food Truck Friday, presented by the Kitchen Incubator of Chattanooga.
“This promises to be a hub of inspiration where aspiring entrepreneurs, seasoned business owners, investors and community leaders can connect, learn from each other and foster new collaborations,” said TVFCU’s Marcus Cade-Johnson.
The Tennessee Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) is another core player. TSBDC’s local four-person office served more than 900 clients last year, said Executive Director Lynn Chesnutt. Whether it’s a home-spun startup or an out-of-state export, businesses continue cropping up across Chattanooga, which both Scott and Chesnutt described as a city primed to foster commercial growth.
“Chattanooga is really a fantastic place to be a business owner because there are — other than us — we have so many great collaborating partners,” Chesnutt said. “The resources are vast.”
With more than 30 events throughout the week, aspiring and established entrepreneurs can learn more about some of the many resources available in the Chattanooga area and connect with others. See the full schedule and learn more at ChaBusiness.org/CEW.
