Announcement #4: New Tech Cities, a Blog Series

In 2005, Chattanooga opened the Tennessee Aquarium right in the heart of downtown. Chattanooga is on the Tennessee River and the city started working hard to improve the waterfront. We went back to visit and found a couple of new restaurants open. We kept on going back to Chattanooga over the next few years, and every year was better. The city was cleaner, new hotels and attractions arrived, and we started hearing about new tech companies in the city. Then in 2010, Chattanooga got the fastest internet in the country with 1 Gig service available to everyone. Chattanooga started to grow a really vibrant startup scene with new companies, accelerators and venture capital funds. Chattanooga went from zero investable capital in 2009 to over $50 million in 2014. Jared Spool and Dr. Leslie Jensen-Inman decided to build their user-experience design school in the city. Over the last few years, some of our smartest and most talented friends have moved to Chattanooga - they love it. I've never seen a city turn around as fast as Chattanooga. The city still has major challenges, but it has a fascinating story to tell and one that raises really interesting questions: Can a small-to-medium size city build a competitive tech industry? Should tech companies consider lauching in a city like Chattanooga rather than Atlanta, Boston, Chicago or San Jose? Together with a colleague, Robert Sutherland (who lives in North Georgia and has known Chattanooga far longer than me), we decided to learn more about Chattanooga. We've interviewed some of the most interesting and connected people in Chattanooga. We're going to publish their stories on the blog over the next few weeks. What does it take to turn around a city? Can technology help, and if so, how? Let's find out. Click here to read our first Chattanooga interview, the first in a series we're calling, "New Tech Cities". chattanooga skyline back to top Get free, weekly updates from the OSTraining blog. Trusted by 60,000+ readers.