With more businesses being started coming out of the pandemic, Chattanooga's CompanyLab is trying to promote and rebrand Startup Week this fall to help encourage more entrepreneurs to start businesses and be successful when they do.
The annual Startup Week, which the CO.LAB launched in 2013 as part of the community's efforts to rally support for new business ventures, is scheduled this year for Oct. 18 to Oct. 22 at more than a dozen locations in and around Chattanooga's Innovation District in downtown Chattanooga. CO.LAB announced Wednesday it has begun taking applications through August 25 for businesses and organizations wanting to sponsor events during the week-long entrepreneurial training and celebration.
"I'm asking everyone who is invested in our city to join us in reigniting its entrepreneurial spirit and championing the ongoing innovation here," said Lindsey Cox, who joined CO.LAB in April as its CEO and is helping develop a new strategic plan for the nonprofit group. "The past year and a half brought a lot of challenges, but after the period of forced deceleration, we are well positioned to reimagine, re-engage and reignite the momentum our city and its residents thrive on."
(Photo by Mark Gilliland) Co-Lab new CEO Lindsey Cox speaks at the Co-Lab Startup Week kickoff that was held at Miller Plaza on August 4, 2021.Despite the economic setbacks caused by the pandemic - or perhaps because of the disruptions caused by the coronavirus - new business filings in the first quarter of 2021 grew in Tennessee by more than 55% from a year ago to a record high during the first three months of the year, according to Tennessee's Secretary of State.
Cox said organizers this year hope to make the final day of Startup Week on Friday more of a time for celebration and recognition of startups. Traditionally, Startup Week has hosted more than 60 events from mixers, panel discussions, fireside chats, silent discos, networking events, keynote speakers, cocktail parties, yoga classes and live music.
"If you could combine a carnival, business convention, and a Chattanooga festival well that's the Startup Week CHA," said Nicole Coleman, the Innovation District events and marketing manager for the Enterprise Center.
CO.LAB hosts several signature events during Startup Week, such as Will This Float (a pitch competition) and the Startup Awards. Cox said organizers are looking to make some changes in this year's events. The new logo for Startup Week unveiled Wednesday shows CHA inside of a heart.
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, an entrepreneur himself who has started several businesses in addition to running his family's car dealership before being elected mayor this year, said he is eager for City Hall to promote small businesses and Startup Week.
Kelly said he will soon be announcing a plan to aid small businesses using some of the federal money provided to the city from the federal pandemic relief programs.
"We want to be a city that does what we can to help businesses to start up and grow," he said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.