Made for Knoxville: Marcus Hall

Style Icon and Craftsman: Meet Marcus Hall, Founder of Marc Nelson Denim. KEC is excited to celebrate #BlackHistoryMonth by sharing stories of innovation and inspiration from Black founders in our community, beginning with Marcus Hall. The love of making is woven through Marcus’ history. His family worked at the Levi’s factory on Cherry Street, only […]

Made for Knoxville: Tommy Nguyen

Problem Solver & Shepherd. Meet Tommy Nguyen – Co-founder of StoragePug. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Tommy to chat about his experience as an entrepreneur in Knoxville, and you can watch the full video below. Tommy started StoragePug to give small business owners a fighting chance, and ended up building a community […]

Chris McAdoo joins Leadership at KEC

mcadoo head shot

  Chris McAdoo, well-known professional artist, designer, and nationally-booked corporate speaker, has been named Director of Strategy and Engagement at Knoxville Entrepreneur Center (KEC). A self-professed “recovering advertising agency creative director,” the Sevier County native and Carson-Newman University graduate said his first year priorities include directing a new KEC brand rollout, “and drawing attention to […]

The Works 2020 Cohort

KNOXVILLE ENTREPRENEUR CENTER ANNOUNCES ‘THE WORKS 2020’, A BUSINESS ACCELERATOR FOR EARLY STAGE STARTUPS Knoxville, Tenn– Knoxville Entrepreneur Center launches The Works 2020, a startup accelerator for regionally-based early-stage technology, media and consumer goods companies.  This year marks the seventh iteration of The Works, which was launched by KEC in 2014 as MediaWorks.  The program […]

A Guide to Tennessee Business Licenses

If you’re in the market to start a new business, you’re probably thinking of a million things – logos, products, names, and more. Unfortunately, there are less “fun” things to think about when starting a new small business. For example, business licenses.   In the midst of all the legal jargon, business licenses can seem confusing […]

10 Great Entrepreneurial Resources in Knoxville

Starting and maintaining a business can be hard, especially during unprecedented times. Support from other entrepreneurs and those who want to see your business succeed can help make everything a little bit easier. At Knoxville Entrepreneur Center we know how important it is to support one another. Check out these ten local entrepreneurial resources that we […]

KEC Accessibility Information

“I want to get to KEC, but I don’t know how?”   The Knoxville Entrepreneur Center is located in beautiful, downtown Market Square directly below the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce. While the office is within easy walking distance for people downtown, there are other options for getting here that can be accessed by the greater […]

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 […]