As a financial analyst earlier in his career, Marcus Shaw learned the value of a diverse portfolio for success.
“Diversification is the cornerstone of value,” says Shaw, a 40-year-old Maryland native who began his career working for Banc of America Securities, Piedmont Investments Advisors and and Height Analytics.
Over the past three and a half years, Shaw sought to bring the value of diversity to many of America’s biggest companies. Shaw helped hundreds of underrepresented minority college students move into key jobs in corporate America in his former job as a senior director at the Management Leadership for Tomorrow in Washington D.C.
In July, Shaw shifted his career again to head the Company Lab in Chattanooga, one of Tennessee’s most successful business accelerators. And again, Shaw is hoping to bring the value of diversification to broaden Chattanooga’s business startup scene and in strengthen the Innovation District with with a bigger share of minority- and female-headed businesses.
Co.Lab Executive Director Marcus Shaw poses at the Co.Lab, in the Edeny Building, on Wednesday, July 26, in Chattanooga, Tenn.Shaw followed his wife, Maren, a board-certified dermatologist at the Chattanooga Skin and Cancer Clinic, to Chattanooga last year after making many visits to Chattanooga to visit his brother-in-law. Marcus Shaw says he has seen the transformation of Chattanooga and wants to be a part of nurturing more business startups – both tech-oriented high growth firms and community-based business startups.
“We saw phenomenal changes over time in Chattanooga and saw what an attractive and dynamic city Chattanooga was becoming,” he says. “Chattanooga is an extraordinary entrepreneurial environment where Main Street businesses and high-growth, venture-backed businesses can develop in tandem.”
Rick Hitchcock, the chairman of Co.Lab’s board, said Shaw was picked for the top job to head the 12-member staff because Shaw “has an extraordinary range of experience dealing with the issues that face entrepreneurs. Shaw succeeds Jack Studer, who headed Co.Lab since last October
At Co.Lab, Shaw said he is eager to “promote inclusive economic growth in Chattanooga and expand the city’s impact in the global innovation discussion.” Already, Shaw is helping to work on a new city-based initiative to make Chattanooga a Kiva City, based upon the global success of the 12-year-old Kiva initiative that provides zero-interest loans up to $10,000 to help start businesses and projects that alleviate poverty.