Brandcamp 2023 Recap
Brandcamp 2023 Recap This past month, 13 entrepreneurs and founders participated in Brandcamp, a KEC program which provides entrepreneurs with the tools and knowledge necessary to develop a successful brand plan. The business owners and founders heard from a variety of guest speakers and panelists, who imparted their knowledge while candidly discussing branding topics with […]
Big Ideas Welcome Season Two!
Season Two of the Big Ideas Welcome Podcast launches today! Since 2022, the Big Ideas Welcome Podcast has shared over 50 episodes of stories from entrepreneurs. Heading into the next season of the podcast, host, Chris McAdoo, wanted to do something different. Up until now, episodes existed as long-form interviews and conversations. The newest season of the […]
Happy 10th Birthday KEC!
Happy Birthday KEC! As April comes to a close we want to look back on how much fun we had celebrating our 10th birthday earlier this month. It has been 10 years of the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center and team KEC threw a big party to celebrate. So many familiar faces came to say hello as […]
What’s the Big Idea Pitch Competition 2023
7 BIG TEAMS. 7 IDEAS. $10,000 ON THE LINE. Over the last few weeks, 28 pitch videos were submitted, over 6000 public votes were cast and 7 finalists moved forward to participate in the Shark Tank/ Accelerator-style competition. Each finalist had 5-minutes to “pitch” their big idea, and another 3-minutes to answer questions from the judges. […]
What’s the Big Idea Pitch Competition 2023 Program
7 BIG TEAMS. 7 IDEAS. $10,000 ON THE LINE. Over the last few weeks, 28 pitch videos were submitted, over 6000 public votes were cast and 7 finalists moved forward to participate in the Shark Tank/ Accelerator-style competition. Each finalist will have 5-minutes to “pitch” their big idea, and another 3-minutes to answer questions from the […]
Growth & Grit 2022
Growth & Grit | Celebrating East TN’s Inc. 5000 Listed Companies Lighthouse Knoxville | Monday, November 14th, 2022 Event Program Location: Lighthouse Knoxville, 6800 Baum Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919 5:00 PM Event Opens 5:30 PM Opening Remarks & Introduction of Companies 5:45 PM Round table Discussion with Companies 7:00 PM Open Networking 7:30 PM Event […]
Catherine Porth joins KEC Leadership
8.24.2021, Knoxville, TN: Local entrepreneur, research specialist and “Let Her Speak” platform founder, Catherine Porth, has been named Director of Insights and Development at the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center (KEC). With more than 12 years working in business consulting, sales development, corporate training and insights research, Porth takes on a full-time role as part of a […]
What’s the Big Idea Pitch Festival 2021
5 BIG IDEAS. 5 BANDS. $10,000 ON THE LINE. This year’s virtual competition brought together five teams with five big ideas, along with a little help from some of Knoxville’s most loved bands to create a live-streamed experience like none other. Hosted by our own Chris McAdoo (with a few special guests!) via Lunchpool, the […]
Made for Knoxville: Tanika Harper
Maker and Change Maker: Meet Tanika Harper, Founder of Harper’s Naturals Tanika created an entire skin care line by hand just to keep her own skin healthy, and in the process realized that she could help others who wanted pure, chemical free, handcrafted products. But helping others didn’t stop with skin care. Tanika is a […]
Made for Knoxville: Samantha Lane
Balance-seeker and Guide: Meet Samantha Lane, Founder of Origami Day Life is short, and Samantha Lane is determined to make the most of it – but not in the typical “always on” 24/7 culture that people like Steve Jobs made famous. After a life-changing surgery, Samantha Lane made the difficult decision to leave the corporate […]
