Blog by Janet Miller of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce
With all the recent national publications ranking Nashville’s economic climate among the strongest in the country, it can be hard to keep up! Last week, the Young Entrepreneur Council named Nashville No. 2 of 12 “startup paradise” cities in America.
When a large group of community leaders embarked on the journey that resulted in the creation of Nashville’s Entrepreneur Center just three years ago, we knew that Nashville had an above-average number of people with a raging entrepreneurial spirit, and a higher number of solopreneurs than many of our peer cities. And boy, have we come a long way as a region since the launch of the Entrepreneur Center in 2009.
A really insightful study issued last month by the Nashville Capital Network (NCN) and the Nashville Health Care Council shows that there has been more than $1.4 billion in venture capital invested in this market over the past decade — with an exciting, steep trend line upward in the past three years. And the number of organizations in town committed to accelerating the growth of entrepreneurs in this market has skyrocketed, with great players from the NCN, to Jumpstart Foundry, to the TNInvestco initiative, to Governor Haslam’s INCITE program. The Chamber has doubled down on our efforts to support growth businesses in Middle Tennessee with the addition of Alison C. Lynch, our director of entrepreneurial growth and engagement. Keep an eye out for Alison, because she is a big thinker who is going to make a big impact on job creation in Nashville.
No doubt, it is a great time to be in business in Middle Tennessee, with growth opportunities spanning from entrepreneurs with big dreams to major corporations like HCA, Asurion and ServiceSource that continue to create hundreds of jobs throughout the region. Leading a team of some of the most talented economic development folks in America is an honor that I savor every day — and we’re just getting started!
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The Nashville Chamber of Commerce also supports Young Professionals through YP Nashville.