Department of
Economic & Community Development
Bill Hagerty, Commissioner

Innovation in Tennessee

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and ECD Commissioner Bill Hagerty launched the Jobs4TN economic development plan to help make Tennessee the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high quality jobs. As part of the plan, four key strategies were identified including investing in innovation

INCITE

On May 5, 2011, Governor Bill Haslam introduced a $50 million initiative called INCITE designed to support innovation across the state. The program will raise Tennessee's profile in innovation-based economic development and drive growth in the creation of knowledge-based jobs.

The strategy is called INCITE for its focus on five key areas - innovation, commercialization, investment, technology and entrepreneurship.

INCITE

Innovation

Integrate innovation into the economic strategy of each of the state's nine economic regions created by the Jobs4TN strategy
Work with the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation (TTDC) to engage with key stakeholders on innovation and to host an annual Governor's Conference on Innovation

Commercialization

Invest in key research opportunities to build innovation networks and work with the private sector to translate Research & Development into high-quality jobs
Move new products and technologies from the research lab to the marketplace faster
In March 2011, Governor Haslam announced $10 million in funding for the Memphis Research Consortium to enhance commercialization partnerships as a first step in this process and to grow the number of jobs in research across the state

Investment

Leverage existing programs such as TNInvestco and Pathway Lending
Focus on assisting Tennessee companies with access to early stage capital, using $30 million in state and federal funding to create a early stage, seed and mezzanine capital co-investment funds. ECD has released draft program guidelines for the INCITE Co-Investment Fund, found online at www.tn.gov/ecd/pdf/INCITE_Fund_Draft.pdf. Comments or feedback will be accepted electronically through Dec. 9, 2011 at ECD.Innovation@tn.gov. Read more here.
Provide capital for low interest loan funding which can help a company build the critical mass necessary to succeed

Technology

Support the continued expansion of technology-based clusters across the state (e.g., biotech, biomedical, life sciences, cleantech, information technology)
Work with regions to integrate technology-based economic development into each region's strategic plan

Entrepreneurship

Startup Tennessee was created as a public-private partnership that connects and provides consulting support to statewide accelerators and entrepreneurs as another means to grow the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The program leverages best practices and the national network of the Startup America Partnership. For more information on Startup Tennessee, please visit the program website.
Nine Regional Entrepreneurial Accelerators have been created in each Jobs4TN Jobs Base Camp to provide Tennessee entrepreneurs with mentoring, education and training, strategic and technical support, and assistance identifying sources of capital. Click here for more information on the accelerators and their locations.