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Navarro Research, Engineering buys Tech 2020 building

Posted at 10:45 am July 25, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Technology-2020-Jan-27-2016

Navarro Research and Engineering Inc. acquired the Tech 2020 building late last week, the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce said Monday, July 25, 2016. The purchase of the building will allow the company’s corporate headquarters to remain in Oak Ridge, retaining more than 100 jobs in the community. The board of directors for Technology 2020 voted Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, to wind down operations after more than two decades of operations. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Navarro Research and Engineering Inc. acquired the Tech 2020 building in Oak Ridge late last week. The purchase of the building will allow the company’s corporate headquarters to remain in Oak Ridge, retaining more than 100 jobs in the community, a press release said.

The Tech 2020 building was placed on the market following the January 2016 announcement that the organization would be winding down operations. Tech 2020 was a nonprofit organization that had focused on technology-based entrepreneurial support and access to capital. The organization contributed to the success of several area start-ups.

“We are pleased that Navarro has found a new home in the Tech 2020 building,” said Phil Andrews, chief financial officer of Oak Ridge Associated Universities and chair of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors. “It’s a win for the community to be able to keep the company and employees in Oak Ridge. The fact that the company has purchased a building, rather than leasing or renting one, shows the kind of commitment Navarro has to the city.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: environmental remediation, Navarro Research and Engineering Inc., nuclear services, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Parker Hardy, Phil Andrews, Susana Navarro-Valenti, Tech 20/20, Technology 2020, Waste Management

Tech 2020 to sell building; other groups will continue organization’s work

Posted at 12:53 pm March 30, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Technology-2020-Jan-27-2016

The board of directors for Technology 2020, which is located in Commerce Park in south Oak Ridge, voted Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, to wind down operations after more than two decades of operations. Tech 2020 announced March 30 that it will sell the building. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Tech 2020 Board of Directors approved a plan Tuesday that allows many of the organization’s top initiatives to be continued under the leadership of other enterprises, officials said. The Tech 2020 building, which is located in Commerce Park in south Oak Ridge, will be sold.

In January, the Tech 2020 Board agreed to wind down operations after more than two decades.

“Our goal these past few months has been to preserve some of Tech 2020’s important resources, and we believe we’ve accomplished that with the plan approved at Tuesday’s meeting of the Board,” said David Bradshaw, Tech 2020 chair.

That plan calls for the transfer of several of the Tech 2020 regional missions to other organizations on or before April 30, and the financial assets of a fourth to be returned to its founding members, a press release said.

“When the Board voted on January 26 to wind down operations, it asked that we explore options to transition existing missions to other not-for-profit organizations,” Bradshaw said in the press release. “We asked interested organizations to outline their ideas, and we are pleased that several have stepped forward with concrete proposals.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: autoXLR8R, Center for Industrial Services, Commerce Park, David Bradshaw, Digital Crossing, Grady Vanderhoofven, GridSmart, Imtek, Innova Memphis, Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, Memphis Bioworks Foundation, Meritus Capital Management, Meritus Kirchner, Nanotek, NetLearning, NucSafe, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pro2Serve, Protein Discovery, Protomet, RAMP, Regional Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, SAF, Smoky Mountains FIRST Robotics Competition, Southern Appalachian Fund, Tech 20/20, Tech 2020 Executive Committee, TN FIRST LLC, University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee Research Foundation, US FIRST

Tech 2020 winding down operations; Pro2Serve among its success stories

Posted at 1:53 pm January 31, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Technology-2020-Jan-27-2016

The board of directors for Technology 2020, which is located in Commerce Park in south Oak Ridge, voted Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, to wind down operations after more than two decades. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Tech 2020—a nonprofit organization that counts Pro2Serve, a technical and engineering services firm, as one of its early success stories—announced last week that it is winding down operations after more than two decades.

Facing increased financial pressures, the Tech 2020 Board of Directors voted Tuesday, January 26, to begin an orderly process to wind down their operations, a press release said. The organization has been focused on technology-based economic development activities in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge region.

Tech 2020 once had 12 to 15 employees or more, but it is now down to less than five full-time employees, said Tom Ballard, past Tech 2020 chair and longtime Executive Committee member who was on the founding board. The organization has one building at Commerce Park in south Oak Ridge and manages a second building, an entrepreneurial center, for the City of Oak Ridge.

Tech 2020 was established in 1994 in Oak Ridge with significant grants from BellSouth, now part of the AT&T enterprise, and others, the press release said. The organization’s initial focus areas were telecommunications and entrepreneurship. One of its early creations was Digital Crossing Networks LLC, which is located in downtown Knoxville.

Pro2Serve is another success story, Ballard said. The company went from a home office to the Tech 2020 building to headquarters in the National Energy Security Center in the Oak Ridge Science and Technology Park at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The company now has more than 350 employees. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Community, Knoxville, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: AT&T, Barry Goss, Battelle Memorial Institute, BellSouth, CEG, Center for Entrepreneurial Growth, City of Oak Ridge, Digital Crossing Networks LLC, Don Sundquist, economic development, Knoxville, Launch Tennessee, Mark Watson, National Energy Security Center, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Entrepreneurial Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Science and Technology Park, ORNL, Pro2Serve, Tech 20/20, Technology 2020, Tennessee Technology Development Corporation, Teri Brahams, Tom Ballard, University of Tennessee, UT

Startup Day, which has ties to Oak Ridge, is in Knoxville on Thursday

Posted at 9:47 pm November 18, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Knoxville’s 3rd annual Startup Day is Thursday, November 19, at the Bijou Theatre in downtown Knoxville. More than 400 attendees participate in the event that highlights East Tennessee as the hub for startups and entrepreneurs, organizers said.

Startup Day has ties to Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Tech 2020 are presenting sponsors.

Doors open at 1:45 p.m. Thursday. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Bijou Theatre, East Tennessee, entrepreneurs, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, SimPath, Startup Day, startups, Tech 20/20

Tech 2020 awarded $250,000 EDA grant

Posted at 4:12 pm October 19, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Tech 2020 Logo

Center for Entrepreneurial Growth to administer funds to support entrepreneurs

Tech 2020, a nonprofit corporation that serves to foster entrepreneurship, has received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, or EDA.

The grant is part of nearly $1.8 million EDA is distributing through its Partnership for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization, or POWER, Planning program.

The POWER Planning grants were awarded to development and entrepreneur groups throughout the country for “developing targeted economic strategies, feasibility studies, impact assessments, asset mapping, and other relevant strategic planning efforts,” a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Tagged With: Center for Entrepreneurial Growth, Economic Development Administration, EDA, entrepreneurs, Kevin Kragenbrink, Partnership for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization, power, POWER Planning grant, Tech 20/20, U.S. Department of Commerce

Kragenbrink named president, CEO of Tech 2020

Posted at 8:47 am April 28, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Kevin Kragenbrink

Kevin Kragenbrink

Kevin Kragenbrink, who has been serving as interim executive director of Tech 2020, has been named president and chief executive officer, a press release said.

Kragenbrink is the co-founder and CEO of Estrada Strategies Inc. He stepped away from his day-to-day responsibilities at the coaching and consulting organization in early November to accept the interim role at Tech 2020, the press release said. He assumed the top position following the resignation of John Morris.

Both Kragenbrink and Tech 2020 Board Chair Teri Brahams acknowledged that what was originally viewed as a role for not more than six months has evolved into a longer term relationship. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: California State University, Center for Entrepreneurial Growth, Estrada Strategies Inc., Inland Empire Center for Entrepreneurship, Kevin Kragenbrink, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, president, Research Foundation, Tech 20/20, Teri Brahams, University of Tennessee, UT, venture development organization

Tech 2020 Announces autoXLR8R 2015

Posted at 9:49 am April 20, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Application process now open

Tech 2020 of Oak Ridge is accepting applications for autoXLR8R 2015, a business accelerator for startups seeking to commercialize technology in the automotive industry. The application process is detailed on the program website: www.autoXLR8R.com. The deadline for applications is May 29.

The program opens in Oak Ridge on July 6 and runs through the week of August 31.

autoXLR8R is in it’s third year, having started at the Southern Middle Tennessee Entrepreneur Centers in Tullahoma, Tennessee.

Tech 2020 has been involved with providing educational support since its inception, a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Tagged With: automotive industry, autoXLR8R, autoXLR8R 2015, business accelerator, entrepreneur, Jack Sisk, Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, LaunchTN, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Shawn Carson, startups, Tech 20/20, U.S. Department of Energy, VDO, venture development organization

Tech 2020-led team receives $250K grant for investment capital effort

Posted at 12:11 pm April 1, 2015
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Tech 2020 Logo

A proposal team led by Technology 2020, or Tech 2020, in Oak Ridge has received a $250,000 federal grant to create a seed capital fund. The goal is to establish a permanent source of professionally managed, seed-stage investment capital focused on technology-generating institutions, entrepreneurs, and young companies in Tennessee, a press release said.

The grant was announced this week by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker.

Tech 2020 led a proposal team that included Memphis Bioworks Foundation, Meritus Ventures, and Innova Memphis. The team proposed to create the “TennesSeed Fund.”

The TennesSeed Fund team will receive the $250,000 grant, and it will be supported by Meritus and Innova to conduct an assessment of best practices, and then organize and launch a new seed fund focused on “proof of concept” financings in Tennessee. The initial focus of investments will be intelligent and sustainable transportation and logistics, which is an industry cluster where Tennessee has a competitive advantage bolstered by strong research, development, and commercial activity, a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: capital fund, challenge grants, cluster grant, cluster grants, Commerce Department, Economic Development Administration, EDA, federal grant, Grady Vanderhoofven, grant, Innova Memphis, investment capital, Ken Woody, Launch TN, Memphis Bioworks Foundation, Meritus Ventures, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, OIE, Penny Pritzker, Regional Innovation Strategies, RIS, science and research park development grants, seed capital fund, seed capital funds, Tech 20/20, Technology 2020, TennesSeed Fund, Teri Brahams, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, University of Tennessee Research Foundation, VDO, venture development organization

Hospitality Houses keep family close during son’s medical crisis

Posted at 7:54 pm March 17, 2015
By Dawn Huotari Leave a Comment

Hospitality Houses

One of the Hospitality Houses is pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

Submitted

Part of being a parent is letting your children go. You want them to grow up, become independent adults, get a job, “leave the nest.” But when the unthinkable happens, when your independent, self-supporting, adult child is critically ill or hurt, you instantly become that protective parent of bygone years, and your only wish is to be with them and to offer comfort, support, care, and love.

So when Pauline and Sammie Gary got a call from their son Myron saying he’d passed out twice and was going to the emergency room at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, they did what any parent would do, they got in their car and drove the five hours from their home in Aiken, South Carolina.

On their way to the hospital, the Garys were able to speak with Myron’s doctor and nurse, and they learned that their 26-year-old son’s heart had stopped and that he would require a pacemaker. They needed to be by their son’s side during this difficult and scary time, and that’s all they could focus on as they made the trip to Oak Ridge.  [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Health, Meetings and Events, Nonprofits Tagged With: "In It to Win It", Hospitality Houses, Kim Maes, Methodist Medical Center, Methodist Medical Center Foundation, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, MMC, Pauline Gary, Sammie Gary, Tech 20/20

2014 Startup Day emphasizes startup-friendly culture, assets in ET

Posted at 2:24 pm November 23, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Startup Day Logo

KNOXVILLE—Knoxville’s second annual Startup Day kicked off Thursday afternoon at The Standard in downtown Knoxville. The event celebrated the success of Knoxville’s growing startup community and raised awareness about resources that support East Tennessee entrepreneurs.

Among the presenters were Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Tech 2020.

“When most Americans think ‘startup community,’ they think Silicon Valley in California, New York City, or Seattle,” said Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero. “It’s significant that East Tennessee is nurturing its startup culture, making resources available to startups, and generally creating a welcoming environment for entrepreneurs. Creating a startup-friendly city will keep and attract talent, capital, and more resources.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, College, Education, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Ben Brown, East Tennessee, entrepreneurs, General Graphene, Innova, Ken Woody, Knoxville, Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, Launch Tennessee, Madeline Rogero, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pershing Yoakley and Associates, Startup Day, Startup Day 2014, startup-friendly culture, SwiftWing, Tech 20/20, University of Tennessee Business Incubator, University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Vig Sherrill, Vuture

Tech 20/20 hosting computer programming workshops for students

Posted at 10:24 am October 10, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Tennessee Code Academy has four computer programming workshops scheduled for students ages 12 to 18 this month, with two in Knoxville and two in Oak Ridge.

The first two workshops in Knoxville will be hosted at the Knoxville Entrepreneur Center on October 13 and 14.

Tech 20/20 will host two workshops in Oak Ridge on October 16 and 17.

These workshops will focus on web design and the Python programming language, a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Education, Front Page News, K-12, Nonprofits Tagged With: computer programming, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, programming, programming language, Python, Sammy Lowdermilk, students, Tech 20/20, Web design, website, workshops

Tech 2020 announces interim CEO

Posted at 10:23 am September 16, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

David Snider, the chief financial officer for Tech 2020, will serve as interim chief executive officer effective October 1, succeeding John Morris, who recently resigned.

The agreement was announced Tuesday by Tom Rogers, chair of the Tech 2020 board of directors.

Snider has been with Tech 2020, a nonprofit regional venture development organization, for 14 years as CFO. He will maintain his duties as CFO and fulfill the role of interim CEO until a new, permanent CEO can be recruited and hired, the press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: David Snider, John Morris, Tech 20/20, Teri Brahams, Tom Rogers

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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