First Annual Knoxville Overground Startup Awards

In the spirit of Global Entrepreneurship Week, Knoxville Overground is proud to host the First Annual Knoxville Overground Startup Awards at the World Grotto on November 19th, 2008 from 6PM - 9PM.

We are individually asking each of the following organizations, along with others, to help support this occasion with a small contribution of either $25, $50, or $100 given their history of supporting economic development for the Oak Ridge/Knoxville region or because they have expressed verbal interest in supporting Knoxville Overground. Below is a listing of a few that we are currently inviting to help sponsor (although please note no confirmation of sponsorship has been confirmed by any of the mentioned organizations or companies at the time this invitation was published):

Tennessee Technology Development Corporation • Meritus Ventures • Innovation Valley Partners • City of Knoxville • Southeast Community Capital • Angel Capital Group • Tennessee Valley Corridor • Innovation Valley Inc. • Cornerstone Foundation • Tech2020 • Scripps Networks • Clayton Bank • S.C.O.R.E. (Knoxville Chapter) • University of Tennessee Research Foundation • TVA • LBMC • Blount Partnership • Woolf · McClane • Innova • MetroPulse • Knoxville Voice • ORNL • BusinessTN Magazine • Oak Ridge Economic Partnership • AllKnox.com • Knoxville Chamber • Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce • Farragut West Knox Chamber of Commerce • Knoxville SBDC • Greater Knoxville Business Journal

Please note that a portion of the funds will also be used to cover retroactively the incorporation costs of Knoxville Overground as a nonprofit endeavor. All contributors will be listed as lifetime founding friends of Knoxville Overground. The remainder of funds will be allocated to cover the costs of the First Annual KO Startup Awards event.

At this event we will be providing cocktails and drinks for the entrepreneurial community and recognizing thirteen startups in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge region for excellence in one of the following categories: 1) women in entrepreneurship, 2) “green” startup, 3) nonprofit entrepreneurship, 4) persistence, 5) best patent filed in 2008, 6) intrapreneurship, 7) Web, 8) minority-owned startup, 9) community organizer for entrepreneurs, 10) The Overground Platinum Award, 11) The Overground Gold Award, 12) Biotech, and 13) Innovative Medical Device.

The deadline for nominations is ending on November 10th, 2008. They are being accepted until midnight via knoxvilleoverground@gmail.com. Winners will be announced in a press release on November 12, 2008.

The public is invited to RSVP via http://www.knoxvilleoverground.eventbrite.com or through http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=47424410660.

Knoxville Overground (KO) will also be announcing at the reception its new 501(c)6 nonprofit organization status as well as the grand joint-opening of Knoxville’s first coworking space in Sequoyah Hills in conjunction with its partner organization, Entrepreneurs of Knoxville (EOK) located at 1204 Kenesaw Avenue. The social lounge, conference room, and shared workspace for entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals provides an alternative to working out of a coffee shop or a home office. Thanks to a generous contribution from the landlord of the property, Leonard Knight, founder and President of http://www.dbrsystems.com/, this endeavor was possible. Renovations to the space are being financed by the grassroots member base and through KO member Shawn Van Dyke, owner of http://redbudconstructionservices.com/.

The EOK/KO coworking space will serve as a model for KO’s larger flagship endeavor in Market Square: a 5,000+ sq. ft. micro-enterprise development center which will integrate a business accelerator for new ventures, a coworking workspace for self-employed professionals, a classroom for classes on entrepreneurship, and a social lounge. It is excepted to open in late 2009. Members of Knoxville have been touring coworking spaces and business incubators across the world for the past two years, collecting notes on best practices that can be applied to the Knoxville / Oak Ridge region.

The organization currently represents over 106 self-employed professionals, CEOs, entrepreneurs, MBA students, lawyers, and others who are passionate about empowering a stronger entrepreneurial infrastructure of supportive resources at all levels in Oak Ridge and Knoxville.

Over the past couple months, representatives from Knoxville Overground have volunteered their time and attended the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development, the Governor’s Clean Energy Summit, Innovation Valley TEC Connect, the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) conference in Chattanooga on best practices in business incubation, and several other related Tech2020 events. Members also have been participating in events such at Startup Weekend Nashville where over six company concepts were developed and launched in a weekend (an event KO intends to bring to Knoxville). Knoxville Overground also was a sponsor at BarCamp Nashville 2008 last month, a nationally recognized event for tech entrepreneurs and enthusiasts where it presented a vision for its future. The presentation can be viewed at http://www.knoxvilleoverground.com/knoxvilleoverground.ppt. The group has also been meeting on Wednesdays to create podcast interviews with some of the fastest growing companies in TN, to host book clubs for books on entrepreneurship, and it continues to promote casual coworking sessions.

A flier providing more information about Knoxville Overground can be downloaded by clicking here.

Knoxville Overground will always welcome ongoing collaboration from those in the Oak Ridge / Knoxville region supporting economic development for self-employed professionals and small-cap entrepreneurs seeking seed capital to a Series-A levels of venture funding.

Thank you for your support!