About

Knoxville Overground (KO) is both a member and sponsor supported nonprofit organization incorporated in the State of Tennessee (501(c)3 status pending) that:

1) manages a community center and coworking workspace where self-employed professionals, entrepreneurs, and telecommuting employees can learn, socialize, collaborate, and work,

2) validates and accelerates volunteer-powered endeavors that attract and retain the “creative class” and prospective investment funds in Knoxville, and

3) fills a niche as an independent advocacy group to promote socially-responsible economic development initiatives and sensible public policy for high-growth startups, micro-enterprise development, and self-employed professionals

1. ABOUT OUR KNOXVILLE OVERGROUND COMMUNITY CENTER

Members of the KO community enjoy access to our entrepreneur community center and social lounge, conference room, library, and coworking workspace (with shared office resources) for exclusive events while KO tenants enjoy our facility 24/7. We are across from the Route 10 KAT bus stop and next door to a hair salon, an Italian restaurant, a massage therapist, and an organic coffee shop. Membership comes with a plethora of other benefits. To learn more about joining KO, click here.

We’re open M-F 9am-5pm and welcome guests for open house on Wednesdays from 9am-6pm.

We’re located on the 2nd Floor in Suite AB at 1204 Kenesaw Avenue in Sequoyah Hills. Look us up on Google Maps. When you get here, look to the left of Blackbird Coffee and enter the door to go up the stairwell to get to the 2nd floor. We’ll be the first door you see as you enter!

2. INTRODUCING THE FIRST EVER VALIDATION SYSTEM THAT JUMPSTARTS VOLUNTEER-POWERED INITIATIVES BENEFITING THE CREATIVE CLASS

Out of the myriad of benefits that come with living and working in Silicon Valley or an entrepreneurial hub like Austin, TX, one undeniable benefit for startups is being surrounded by the vibrancy of ongoing events, workshops, classes, conferences, clubs, and forums that are targeted toward both aspiring and serial entrepreneurs. Many of these events are either volunteer-powered or operate as non-profit enterprises.

At KO, we are unleashing this spirit and untapped vibrancy in the Knoxville community. We are positioned to act as a catalyst for a full-scale renaissance of events that can both “validate and accelerate” community-building events and groups like BarCamp, PodCamp, StartupWeekend, Startup Drinks, EcoTuesday, Women 2.0, Entrepreneur27, Churchhill Club, and peer-to-peer learning groups and social clubs for programmers like SuperHappyDevHouse. To see our complete listing of endeavors currently being evaluated and approved click here and be sure to check back often. The list is always growing.

When KO members and their social projects are validated, it builds trust and credibility thereby accelerating the process from concept to launch. In turn, this makes it easier to attract needed support and resources when putting together events. Our aim at Knoxville Overground is to deliver this support for each approved endeavor by:

• Ensuring that each KO endorsed initiative receives extensive press coverage

• Allowing the project to receive the benefits of working through a non-profit organization without the hassle of starting one from scratch

• Providing administrative support with bookkeeping, accounting, and payment processing

• Recruiting volunteers from the KO community and beyond

• Granting access to KO’s database of trusted prospective sponsors

• Guiding the proposal through a 5-step due diligence process to ensure implementation is fun, rewarding, and successful

KO members benefit from this experience as they:

• Gain personal exposure in the business community as well as a stronger brand presence for their company (if applicable)

• Build stronger relationships and improve trust with prospective work partners (before money is involved in their private, for-profit projects)

• Develop leadership and team-building skills

3. WE ARE A PUBLIC POLICY AND LOBBYING ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION

In the tradition of the famous model Maslow’s hiearchy of needs that illustrates the needs each individual must fulfill before they can reach their potential (or self-actualization), we believe that each community needs to follow a similar path before it can start to see a self-renewing, vibrant, and prosperous startup culture in which self-employed professionals, visionaries, and entrepreneurship can thrive. As much success is about hard work, as writers like Malcolm Gladwell recently illustrate in his book Outliers, it’s also about being in the right environment with the right set of circumstances.

1. COMMUNITY. Connectivity, collaboration, and a sense of belonging are the foundation of attracting and retaining the creative class and entrepreneurial personalities. Innovative communities require ongoing potluck dinners, social mixers, online communities, and workshops that connect professionals who are creative, entrepreneurial, and excited about collaborating on a daily basis.

We advocate and promote the expansion of the “Overground model” and will continue to launch chapters across the State of Tennessee until the end of 2009. In early 2010 we will open dialogue with national foundations like the Kaufmann Foundation, Acton Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence et al. for guidance and possibly funding so that additional Overground chapters can build their own entrepreneur community centers, social lounges, and micro-enterprise development centers with the turnkey blueprints and guidance based on statistically proven case studies that come with being a part of an umbrella organization.

2. EDUCATION. One of the primary reasons why high-growth startups and self-employed professionals succeed is because the founders of the startups are equipped with the practical skills, experience, and education they need to be successful. Chance favors the prepared. We advocate for developing open-source education platforms (like MITOPENCOURSEWARE at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and peer-to-peer learning communities (Moodle is neat) that provide the benefits of accredited training systems (such as whatever is promoted by the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education) to help the creative workforce improve both their quantitative and qualitative skill set at a fraction of the cost of traditional Higher Education courses or for-profit training classes.

3. PUBLIC SERVICE. When Alexis de Tocqueville visited the US and wrote Democracy in America in 1835, he observed that the high frequency of communities forming was the foundation for our liberty and freedom. This ongoing collaboration and community involvement was the vanguard for a healthy economy and civil society. Jump forward to the 21st century and political scientists (like Robert Putnam in his classic Bowling Alone) illustrate the real and documented demise and recent revival of grassroots community initiatives and involvement in social associations throughout the US.

The challenge remains, however, that most communities don’t have a Foundation Center where they can go for help when launching a nonprofit or a pro bono community endeavor. A lot of unnecessary and mundane tasks must be accomplished by anyone looking to execute a social endeavor proposal or launch a nonprofit. When we make that process easier for community leaders who want to launch a project that benefits the creative class, everyone benefits. The community leader gains attention, respect, and awareness (which is like free advertising for his or her company, if applicable) and community cohesiveness and vibrancy continues to evolve.

We are always fundraising for a stronger support system that helps validate and accelerate projects that aid in socially responsible economic development.

4. ENTREPRENEURSHIP. With a strong foundation of community, access to practical education, and public service resources, there’s an opportunity and a higher probability that startups will thrive. However, there’s still more to do. We enjoy collaborating with the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) et al. who advocate for a six-sigma approach to improving the startup success rate by promoting inclusive and accredited business incubators (such as the PlugAndPlayTechCenter,) micro-enterprise development centers (like Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center,) and startup accelerators (like Y Combinator.) Additionally, we are collaborating with several organizations on research reports and grant proposals that will help improve programs that help self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs. These programs range from helping these indviduals get affordable healthcare to promoting the agenda of kindred advocacy groups like the Freelancers Union et al organizations influencing public policy in the public interest of triple-bottom line entrepreneurship and self-employed professionals.

5. PHILANTHROPY. When we start to promote variations of groups like Full Circle Fund and Resource Generation in Knoxville that help to bring together and educate those of all ages with substantial wealth, intelligent decisions (grounded in sociological research and holistic due diligence) are made regarding the most logical way to give back financially to the community. Additionally, we advocate the belief that supporting social change and economic transformation initiatives (that empower individuals and a self-sufficient middle class in locally-owned economy matrix) is more important than “charity” that perpetuates a cycle of dependency. Seeing this responsible and balanced approach toward philanthropy inspires emerging generations to start their own businesses in order to continue the proud legacy of entrepreneurship we have here in Knoxville and across the State of Tennessee.

WE WELCOME YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS

If you still have questions about Knoxville Overground, we suggest you first visit our FAQ page. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, send us an e-mail at knoxvilleoverground@gmail.com and we’ll get back with you shortly!