Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Chattanooga entrepreneur center The Company Lab on Wednesday announced a partnership between that aims to enhance technology commercialization and support the growth of deep tech start-ups in Chattanooga.
Local, state and federal officials gathered at Society of Work for the signing of a agreement solidifying the partnership between the largest U.S. Department of Energy science and energy research lab and the local tech start-up accelerator.
“Today’s agreement creates a pathway that connects one of the world’s premier research institutions with one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial ecosystems,” Co.Lab CEO Tasia Malakasis said at the event.
The collaboration will leverage Chattanooga’s digital infrastructure, university research and entrepreneurial ecosystem to transform scientific innovation into marketable products, she said.
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“Chattanooga is uniquely positioned to become a national destination for technology commercialization, particularly in quantum energy and transportation,” Malakasis said, adding that those are Co.Lab’s areas of focus.
Innovation Crossroads, an existing two-year entrepreneurship program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory that pairs company founders with researchers, has proven to be a successful model for the commercialization of technology, Malakasis said.
“This partnership extends that commercialization journey by creating another launch point for founders who are ready to scale,” she said, “who are ready to connect with customers and who are ready to build enduring companies here in Tennessee.”
Shaun Gleason, director of partnerships for Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said more than 50 companies have participated in the Innovation Crossroads program, and more than half of those companies have remained in Tennessee. He cited Qubit Engineering, a quantum start-up headquartered in Knoxville, as an example of a successful start-up benefiting the community.
“The communities that lead are rarely those that just invent the technologies or invent the next breakthrough,” Gleason said. “They’re the ones that create an environment, an environment like you see here, where innovators can access talent, infrastructure, capitol, and those partnerships turn into thriving businesses together.”
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said the partnership will help to create higher paying jobs in Chattanooga and drive the economy forward.
“One of the things that kind of disturbed me into running for mayor is that Chattanooga really didn’t have a way to break through that glass ceiling into scientific and knowledge economy jobs,” he said. “This is it.”
Janet Rehberg, EPB president and CEO-elect, said the utility’s infrastructure, including its community-wide fiber network and self-healing power grid, is a platform for innovation, and EPB’s partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory has led to significant advancements in quantum technology and commercial quantum networking.
“All of this is about positioning Chattanooga, Hamilton County and and Tennessee to benefit from one of the most transformative industries that will be coming for decades, and that’s quantum technology,” she said. “To realize the opportunity, we need to create a quantum ecosystem — one that brings together research industries, education and entrepreneurs.”
Contact business reporter Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.
Emily Crisman became a staff writer for the Chattanooga Times Free Press in 2009. She also writes for Chatter Magazine. Emily graduated with a degree in humanities from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2006.