Tech 2020, one of Tennessee's first entrepreneurial promotion agencies, is shutting down after 21 years.
Directors of the Oak Ridge-based technology development group voted today to wind down operations. Tech 2020 once served Chattanooga, among other cities, with startup grants and assistance programs. But board members for Tech 2020 said other groups, including Launch Tennessee, the Company Lab and other public and private accelerator, tech assistance and other development groups, have since taken over much of that role.
"Tech 2020 has truly been an innovator, not only in this region but also across the nation for more than 20 years," said Teri Brahams, Tech 2020 Chair. "The Board believes this strong advocacy role for entrepreneurship has made a lasting impact on our community and helped spawn a much more robust ecosystem than the one that existed in 1994. We want to see how that legacy of service can be continued through other organizations."
Brahams said the decision to shutdown "was not an easy one," but the agency should be phased out entirely within 60 days.
"We were the only organization focused on entrepreneurial support when we were established, but the landscape has changed dramatically since then," Brahams said. "We believe the region can best be served with fewer entities competing for limited financial resources."
Tech 2020 was established in 1994 in Oak Ridge with grants from BellSouth, now part of the AT&T enterprise, and others. The organization's initial focus areas were telecommunications and entrepreneurship, and one of its early creations was Digital Crossing Networks, LLC, in Knoxville.
When the University of Tennessee (UT) and Battelle Memorial Institute partnered to bid on the management contract for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tech 2020 conceived a new subsidiary called the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth (CEG). Later, when then Gov. Don Sundquist established the Tennessee Technology Development Corp., Tech 2020 served for several years as the administrative arm of the organization that does business today as Launch Tennessee.
The CEG program was also expanded through contracts in Chattanooga, Western North Carolina, and Southeastern Kentucky.
Over the past few years, Tech 2020 has faced increasing financial constraints as government and private funds have shifted to other startup programs.