Pathway Lending Celebrates 25 Years Supporting Chattanooga Entrepreneurs

Chattanooga is full of entrepreneurship opportunities. Since 2001, Pathway Lending has been helping local small businesses grow and thrive in Hamilton County and beyond. Founded in 1999, Pathway is a community development financial institution (CDFI) that offers financing and coaching services to businesses that might not be able to secure a traditional bank loan.  Pathway

Microsoft’s TechSpark and Chattanooga’s Growing Tech Scene

In 2023, Microsoft changed the tech landscape of Chattanooga with a $50,000 grant called TechSpark. As a TechSpark partner, the Chattanooga Chamber received resources and support as it expanded and strengthened our tech start-up scene. Here at the Chamber, we knew the grant would be impactful. Now, as Microsoft offers a second round of funding,

The Very Sweet Entrepreneurial Success of Cocoa Asante

As she looked out at the room of dignitaries, elected officials, nonprofit leaders, family and friends, all of whom came to celebrate her ongoing success as an entrepreneur, businesswoman and luxury chocolatier, Ella Livingston smiled and thought back to the very beginning, years before Cocoa Asante became a superstar brand. “I started out of my

Family-Friendly Workplaces: A Blueprint for Success in Hamilton County

In today’s challenging economy, more than one in three working households in Hamilton County struggle to make ends meet. More than 9,500 households with children are living in financial hardship. These families fall into the category known as ALICE: Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed. For these ALICE families, the workplace is more than just a place to

Becoming A National Park City: Chattanooga Continues To Climb Higher 

Modern Chattanooga has been formed by a series of What If questions.  What if we built an aquarium and renovated our forgotten riverfront?  What if we cleaned up our air and atmosphere, once considered among the dirtiest in the nation?  What if we built the fastest Internet, hosted an Ironman and encouraged the return of

How Doing What You Know (and Finding Help with What You Don’t) Pays Off:  The TESBROS Story

If you’d asked Ji Hoon Heo what he anticipated the next five years to look like when he launched his “Tesla Bros” Facebook group in January of 2019, he likely wouldn’t have shared visions of a nearly 30,000-subscriber YouTube fanbase, an 11,000-square-foot warehouse, hitting multi-million dollar revenue milestones, and continued growth on the horizon. But

The Compassionate, Brave and Gutsy – Yes, Gutsy – Story of Seahorse Snacks

This summer, you can buy a special seventh-inning snack – take me out to the ballgame – at any Chattanooga Lookouts home game.   “Curveball Crunchies,” said Stacy Martin. “It’s a play on ‘buy me some peanuts and Crackerjacks’.”  Martin created Curveball Crunchies for her Seahorse Snacks brand, a protein-rich, highly portable snack business headquartered in

Micro Centers: Answering the Need for Affordable, High-Quality Childcare in Chattanooga

Twenty years ago, the Chambliss Center for Children and Hamilton County Schools pioneered a new vision for local child care: small, or micro, child care centers within public schools as a thoughtful and proactive way to support and retain teachers and staff.   Today, such a need for employee retention has only increased. One of the

From Brickyard to the Bay: Brev.dev Acquired by NVIDIA

If you pay any attention to the business world, then you are probably at least vaguely familiar with Nvidia, a San Francisco Bay Area technology outfit that earlier this summer harnessed the wave of AI popularity to become the most valuable company in the world, elbowing past Apple, Microsoft, and Google’s parent organization, Alphabet. Over

Jay Dale and the Future of the Chamber Board

When Jay Dale, Chattanooga Market President of First Horizon Bank, assumes leadership over the Chattanooga Chamber board of directors this summer, he’ll do so with a very clear understanding of the past, present and future. Looking behind him, he sees giants of the Chamber and business world. “I’m very honored and humbled. I think about