Alexis Willis joins Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce as director of INCubator

Alexis Willis

Alexis Willis, director of business support for The Company Lab, or CoLab, will join the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce next month as director of small business and entrepreneurship.

Willis will direct the activities of the INCubator, which is in the Hamilton County Business Development Center on the North Shore. She succeeds Kathryn Menchetti, who resigned from the post earlier this year.

“Alexis is a dynamic leader with a great background in our entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Charles Wood, vice president of economic development for the Chattanooga Chamber. “Her energy and enthusiasm will play a critical role in helping move the INCubator to the next level.”

Willis will lead a team of five members at the INCubator, which helps business startups, including nearly 70 that are housed in Tennessee’s biggest business incubator on the North Shore.

Clients at the incubator typically stay for up to three years before graduating. A recent economic impact survey reported INCubator clients generated $17 million in revenues and investment over the previous year.