Our Vision

Imagine a close-knit, structured, co-ed community of under a hundred professionals of all ages, faiths, ethnic backgrounds, socio-economic classes, educational levels, and business backgrounds – all dedicated to helping you define your ideas and grow your business as you strive to become an empowered citizen promoting sustainability, social mobility, and an open society that invests in the public interest.  The only mandatory requirement needed for admission at an entry level is demonstrating your passion for service and innovation.

We intend to launch a space located in downtown Market Square, encompassing over 4,500 square feet which will include a social lounge, trendy and creative workspaces, and classroom spaces where we host ongoing classes, seminars, and workshops on life design, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility.  Our long-term goal with this space is to create a green, zero-waste work environment that has the capacity to operate off the electrical grid through utilizing solar panels.

This community center will also serve as a welcoming center for the creative class.  Knoxville Overground will be a destination where any newcomer, visitor, or representative can visit during normal business hours to get information about the startup culture in Knoxville.  Through our Wiki site and community resources, one of our many aims is to continue to remove the barriers to entry to living an independent, creative, and socially responsible entrepreneurial lifestyle in Knoxville.  As such, we’ll always be an advocate for our creating an “ecosystem for triple-bottom line economic development,” which includes incorporating various factors, from low-cost of living to networking events, that aid entrepreneurial growth.

After our space is set up and established, we have a lot of projects on the horizon we’d like to explore that tie in with our five pillars of entrepreneurship, coworking, community, public service, and education.  For a complete list of our upcoming projects and proposals, click here.

In Fall 2009, our collective dream is to organize a bus trip to across the United States and promote that Knoxville Overground is one of many signs that Knoxville, TN is one of the fastest “up and coming hotspots in the country” for triple-bottom line entrepreneurship, tech startups, and business opportunities in the emerging green economy.  It’s affordable, progressive, and a community of ideas.

We believe that by keeping all that we do as a “grassroots movement” it sends a strong message to the country that Knoxville is a place where entrepreneurship is celebrated and encouraged by everyday people with the heart and experience to make things happen.  We want to share the news that Knoxville is a community where you can build a business around your passion, higher ethical business principles are openly explored, and the collective effort to create a stronger localized economy is always at the forefront our endeavors.

As such, Knoxville Overground will always be a movement led by and for a diverse community of people who have a clear and defined vision of what kind of community resources we need to provide in order to uphold the American dream of social mobility, entrepreneurship, and meaningful public service.