At the moment, Chattanooga is in the process of transforming itself into something like, but very different from, the Silicon Valley of the Southeast. If you read our coverage of GIGTANK 2014, you’ll remember that, thanks to the community-oriented environment, gigabit internet, and smart electric grid, the city is currently thriving with high-tech start-ups, accelerators, and incubators. From an outsider’s perspective, the place is ripe with opportunity for new businesses. To show off its unique business climate and coax others to join, an organization called WayPaver is inviting innovators from outside of the city on a sponsored tour of Chattanooga’s start-up ecosystem in a program they dub the Innovation Delegation.
While covering GIGTANK, my wife, Danielle, and I had the chance to meet members of WayPaver and their parent organization, a venture incubator called Lamp Post Group. Both WayPaver and Lamp Post have very interesting approaches to entrepreneurship. Lamp Post simultaneously funds and mentors the businesses in which it invests, guiding them from the start-up stage until they’ve become established companies. The firm spun out WayPaver this year in order to further cultivate Chattanooga’s start-up ecosystem, but the “innovation lab” does so by executing experimental approaches. Bouncing ideas around, the lab attempts to come up with out of the box experiments for recruiting new talent to the city. Their first big experiment appears to be the Innovation Delegation and they’ve just begun accepting applications.
The Innovation Delegation will be a group of ten brilliant minds from various industries that will tour the city during Chattanooga Startup Week, October 6-10. During their visit, these individuals will meet with the various start-ups, venture incubators, accelerators, community leaders, and investors that Chattanooga has to offer to discuss the ways that the city can become a U.S. hot spot for the development of new, high tech businesses . After spending the week immersed in Chattanooga’s start-up ecosystem, the delegation will, as part of a culminating event, present what they’ve learned along with ideas they have for Chattanooga to the city’s start-ups, industry experts, and the city as a whole.
The city’s mayor, Andy Berke, explained his take on the delegation, “We know technology and innovation are driving the new global economy and, if we are going to compete, we must use all of our assets – our Gig infrastructure, our talented workforce, and our unique physical environment that makes Chattanooga a great place to live. By attracting and cultivating the brightest minds, we are staking out our place in the innovation century.”
Founder of WayPaver, Tiffanie Robinson, reflected, “A big part of our work at WayPaver is rethinking the relationship between startups, technology, and cities. Innovation Delegation is a way to bring more really smart, innovative thinkers into that process. It’s an exciting time to be a part of such a vibrant startup community, we can’t wait to share that opportunity with the world.”
Applications for the Innovation Delegation are currently open until September 15, so if you believe that you’ve made significant contributions in your field, you should head over to the program’s site and apply. If, on the other hand, you know someone who you think fits this description, you can nominate someone for the delegation here. The criteria for those who will be accepted are described below:
The best candidates for the Innovation Delegation are individuals with a robust understanding of startups and technology as well a demonstrated commitment to innovative solutions. This criteria is left intentionally broad, as we’re interested in individuals that will bring a fresh perspective to the challenges that startups and cities face together. The particular industry or field of the candidate is less important than a demonstrated commitment to innovative thinking and solutions to complex problems. Potential delegates are invited to apply at innovationdelegation.org—applications are due by September 15.
Once accepted to the program, you’ll be rewarded with a free trip to Chatt and, more importantly, have an opportunity to absorb and provide valuable insight into the city’s infrastructure and business environment. Witnessing the city first hand, I totally recommend applying.
