theCO recently hosted its second edition of the Best in the West competition to foster entrepreneurial spirit in West Tennessee by connecting local entrepreneurs to funding and a collaborative community. Contestants from all sectors and industries pitched their original ideas. Among the many applicants, here are the ten ideas that stood out the most; find out how you can support these emerging local businesses.
One of Our Jackson Home's favorite ways to support local businesses is to eat local, and next Monday they're celebrating National Cheeseburger Day with a Battle of the Burger event! RSVP and learn more on Facebook, and check out Katie Howerton's review of the three featured burgers here. And don't forget to vote!
Read MoreHow did you get started with event planning?
In middle school, we had lots of parties—the good kind! But I was the person who coordinated where the parents should drop their kids off and what time to pick them up and which friends were bringing drinks, snacks, and cups—and all the details. So I really started as a kid. But officially I started in college when my friends asked me to coordinate their wedding because I’m a really organized person, and I have a lot of energy. So I did that in 2012.
Read MoreThis summer, four Dev Catalyst students took on Jackson-Madison County Library’s Big Read website. Students from schools across West Tennessee were hand-selected to develop the official website for the project, an effort to get the nation reading.
Read MoreWith Best in the West coming up, talks of entrepreneurship are in the air. We're so thankful that we got to know Tamara Reed of Studio 31 through Our Jackson Home's A Night of Storytelling. Check out this piece by Asanta Brooks highlighting this local's salon and fragrance.
Read MoreSteven Prescott is a standout alumnus of Dev Catalyst. Prescott began the program in 2013 under Vicki Deloach’s computer class at Madison Academic Magnet High School. The program was new to both West Tennessee and Prescott, but the product of a semester of work would lead to lifelong impacts.
Dev Catalyst was a brainchild of the founders at theCO who noticed a need for educational development.
For Prescott, Dev Catalyst created friendships and freedom.
Read MoreIndie rockstars are not typically viewed by many as entrepreneurs, but local band Coopertheband is everything that entrepreneurs should be: talented, driven, and ready to work. For three years now, they’ve been blazing a new trail for musicians old and young in Jackson, Tennessee.
Their most recent efforts featured a grass roots marketing campaign that involved the band performing shows in offbeat venues.
Read MoreTell me a little about yourself. I study history at Union University, and [I’m] about to start my senior year. I just got married a month ago. With my job . . . I do a lot of different things. I work for an insurance technology consulting firm that also does operations management consulting Tampa, Florida. I got connected with my boss a few years ago and have been working for [them] since then. I do kind of the website development. Actually, it's all kind of goes with the same idea. . . . We're resale. We do online trainings online, courses, insurance, and insurance technology. My branch and some other stuff.
Read MoreA Night of Storytelling is a biannual Our Jackson Home event that seeks to create a warm environment for you to dig deeper into the people and places of our city by hearing personal stories from your Jackson neighbors—but lucky you, we’re doing THREE events this year including 731Day! This event is family-friendly and free, and food trucks will be set up starting at 5pm. Click here to read about our awesome presenters and performers.
Read MoreJackson, Tennessee, along with seventy-two other communities across the nation, is a TechHire city. But what does that mean? For CO:member and local business owner Austin Thompson and theCO’s Dev Catalyst program, it means an opportunity to create opportunity for young tech talent in the area.
The TechHire initiative was created by the Obama Administration in 2015. The project, however, lives on today. Its main mission is to support the growing technology fields in the nation. Cities selected have shown dedication to supporting training for technology-related jobs and companies that strive to create a more diverse workplace. The initiative is currently under Opportunity@Work, a nonprofit organization designed to empower Americans in today's economic world.
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