The Knoxville Chamber works with business and community leaders, as well as nonprofit and government partners, to create a healthy ecosystem for small business growth in the region. Owners seeking to expand in the Knoxville area are encouraged to use the resources below to flourish in our community.
The Knoxville TSBDC Office provides small business start-up services including, but not limited to: business plan development, financial planning assistance, marketing plan development, government contracting guidance, international trade guidance, sources of capital, & social media guidance.
As a Path to Prosperity priority, the Knoxville Chamber aims to develop a regional access-to-capital strategy that increases the availability of usable capital across the spectrum of needs.
The Business Smart Toolkit helps new and aspiring entrepreneurs launch a business idea and understand the steps to building a business that is credit-ready.
SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, provides mentorship, on-demand webinars, online resources, and local events.
Access to support and resources is crucial to early business success. Tennessee Smart Start will help you visualize your business model and connect with resources across the state.
Designed for business owners, CO— is a site that connects like minds and delivers actionable insights for next-level growth.
The Office of Business Support helps the business community navigate city regulations, policies and departments, making it easier to do business in Knoxville. The office interacts with business owners on a variety of issues and helps the City to be more responsive to their needs.
The Knox County Business License page allows you to apply for a new business license, search new business listings, and file a business tax return.
In Tennessee, some small business grants are given to business owners to start and grow their ventures, and grant recipients do not have to pay back the funding from government.
Research shows that lack of access to capital has a greater negative impact on Black- and Hispanic-owned businesses. A holistic, collaborative strategy can have a positive influence on the economic mobility of those communities while building a more resilient, regional economy. To that end, the Knoxville Chamber is actively engaged with 100Knoxville, an initiative aimed at growing local, black-owned businesses by $10 million in five years.
The Urban League helps to bring businesses and jobs to areas where poverty is an everyday reality and people have been profoundly affected by long-term unemployment.
Centro’s small business services provide material in several areas including financial education (including budgeting and taxation), business modeling and planning, optimizing social media and marketing, strategic leadership (management and employee retention), and one-on-one consulting for aspiring business owners.
The Knoxville Business Support Network has compiled a comprehensive brochure to help navigate existing small business resources.
