In the South-Central Tennessee region there is a need to provide support to small business start-ups. To address this, the Turner Center along with the TN Small Business Development Center (TSBDC) have created a small business development initiative for start-up businesses called the UT Southern Up-Start program. Rural communities need small businesses and small business owners in order to survive and create a strong rural ecosystem. Building this thriving rural ecosystem means supporting new entrepreneurs, to ensure their opportunities for success.

The UT Southern Up-Start program forms a cohort of small business start-ups and proceeds to meet with them once a month from February to August. During these meetings, the participants are educated on basic business principles such as marketing, forecasting, target marketing, etc. After the teaching session, the participants then work on applying the concepts to their own business plan. At the end of this process, the business owners will have a fully formed business plan that can be used for strategic planning going forward. At the end of the program, the cohort will participate in a pitch competition in which they’ll present their business plans to a judging panel. The winner of the competition will be awarded a co-working office in the Makeshift co-working space run by the Giles County Chamber of Commerce for a year. Second and third place will be given 24/7 access to the co-working space for a 3-month period. The outcome for the region will be a thriving local economy based on the successes of small business owners.

In the photo above from left to right are Dewitt Booth, Emily Darnell, Galen Longo, Dr. Shonda Reynolds, John Lancaster, Coty Moore, Jessie Parker, and Bryson Leach.

The pitch competition winner was Dr. Shonda Reynolds, and the Director’s Choice award went to John Lancaster.

Rebecka Cronin

Turner Center for Rural Vitality