Congrats to our WTBI 2020 Winner: Mike Benn & SongBoarding!

7 teams.. 48 hours.. 3 judges.. Countless Le Croix..   On Sunday, March 1st, the seven teams participating in our annual What’s The Big Idea 48-Hour accelerator and pitch competition got up on stage at Scruffy City Hall to present their ideas to a panel of judges.   While the seven teams all did a […]

2020 What’s The Big Idea Pitch Competition Finalists Announced!

KEC is so excited to announce the seven finalists for our 2020 What’s The Big Idea 48-Hour Pitch Competition! These seven teams of entrepreneurs will spend 48 consecutive hours refining their Big Ideas with the help of mentors and industry experts at the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center. They will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges […]

Red Stag Fulfillment Laying Deeper Roots in Knoxville with Fulfillment Center Expansion

Red Stag Fulfillment was founded by two successful entrepreneurs who vowed to give ecommerce businesses the enterprise-level fulfillment solution they wished they’d had for their businesses from the beginning.    It’s been 6 years since then. Today, Red Stag Fulfillment employes over 100 Tennesseans in various positions at our main east coast fulfillment center in […]

LitUp Teen Literature Fest is Taking Over Downtown Knoxville!

On Sunday October 13th Knox County Public Library’s LitUp Festival will be taking over downtown Knoxville! All day long there will be free activities that explore creativity and thinking for teens ages 13-18. A few activities include author talks, writing workshops, live music, and poetry slams – just to name a few.    This free event will kick-off […]

2019 What’s The Big Idea?! 48-Hour Launch

What’s The Big Idea?! 48-Hour Launch Hear about KEC’s annual competition straight from previous contestants and mentors.   KEC talked with previous WTBI contestant, Samantha Lane of Origami Day, and WTBI mentor, Jeff Gotcher of ResQue, to get their takes on the weekend-long accelerator program. Check out what they had to say about their experience […]

December Mentor Spotlight: Cliff Caudill

Everyone meet Cliff Caudill! Cliff has extensive experience in product development for John Deere and currently serves in a dual capacity as a KEC and SCORE Mentor. Check out Cliff’s answers to our questions below. Cliff is offering multiple opportunities to sign up for office hours, so make sure to sign up today!   What is […]

November Mentor Spotlight: Haseeb Qureshi

Haseeb is a Tennessee licensed attorney and technical founder with roots in music and design. He is currently an Attorney at Morehous Legal Group, where he counsels and advises numerous businesses. He is also the CEO of Audiohand, a music technology startup specializing in crowdsourcing audio. This week we asked Haseeb a series of questions about his experience as […]

How to Survive a Busy Season

This is a guest post by Origami Day’s Samantha Lane.    Many of us have busy lives year-round, but almost all of us have busy seasons. Whether this is a month of madness in your life or the entire holiday season, it’s likely that you will have a period of more intense demands on your […]

36|86 Is Just Around the Corner!

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default”][vc_column_text]Why You Should Attend 36|86 2018 Held annually in Nashville, 36/86 Entrepreneurship Festival gives Tennessee’s best and brightest a place to learn and make the connections necessary to grow or start their businesses. It’s the perfect opportunity to hear from some of […]

SWARM Wins What’s The Big Idea 2018

What’s The Big Idea 48-Hour Launch: Congratulations SWARM!   Well folks, one of our favorite weekends of the year has come and gone. The KEC team is so proud of all of the awesome work done this weekend by the six teams and their mentors.   On Friday evening all of the teams gathered together […]

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