RECD partners with Launch TN to provide classes for entrepreneurs

Launch Tennessee Announces Creative Community Partners

Nashville, Tenn., – Launch Tennessee (LaunchTN) announced today a second round of recipients of Creative Communities Grants. This initiative connects rural and underserved populations with entrepreneurial education, tools and resources. All grantees use their awards to execute entrepreneurial or workforce-development programs.

Executive Director, Dennis Tumlin of the Rhea Economic & Tourism Council added “We’re excited to have been awarded this $17,500 grant for the development of more entrepreneurs in our area.  Our grant will fund a series of classes featuring the CO.STARTERS curriculum.  We’re recruiting up to 30 participants in our area that will attend Saturday classes where entrepreneurs will learn skills such as: business plan development, SWOT analysis, introduction to legal and accounting needs, and marketing for small businesses.  If you think about it, almost every business started as a small business, that’s why we were excited to create this new offering for our community.”

The application process encouraged organizations to collaborate with local partners to develop customized programming catered to their unique community needs. LaunchTN provided a “tool kit” with ready-to-deploy curriculums, such as CO.STARTERS, 100 Girls of Code and Dev Catalyst, that organizations could utilize when creating proposals.

Creative Communities is designed to augment the work of existing entrepreneur-focused partners, creating a more connected in-state network of resources. In fact, before Creative Communities was available, Launch Tennessee delivered programming to 43% of the counties in Tennessee. With the launch of this and other rural-focused programs, Launch Tennessee resources now reach 80% of Tennessee counties.

A total of $250,000 was awarded to 16 organization, with sums of up to $25,000 each. Recipients include:

• AccelNow (Kingsport, TN)
• Hancock County Board of Education (Sneedville, TN)
• Rural Resources (Greeneville, TN)
• Unicoi County High School – Tech Shop (Erwin, TN)
• Downtown Newport Artscapes (Newport, TN)
• Sevierville Commons Arts Council (Sevierville, TN)
• Love.Hope (Knoxville, TN)
• The Cumberland Regional Development Corporation (Cookeville, TN)
• Rhea Economic & Tourism Council Inc. (Dayton, TN)
• United Way of Coffee and Moore County (Tullahoma, TN)
• Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville (Nashville, TN)
• Corner to Corner (Nashville, TN)
• Entrepreneur Center Northwest TN, INC (Martin, TN)
• Wayne County Chamber of Commerce/JECDB (Waynesboro, TN)
• Let’s Innovate through Education (Memphis, TN)
• Advance Memphis (Memphis, TN)

Creative Communities includes 25 partners who have received a total of $500,000 in funding to support entrepreneurial programming and events across Tennessee.

To learn more Creative Communities, including partner projects and future application opportunities, visit launchtn.org/entrepreneurship/creative-communities.