Several of Nashville's most successful entrepreneurs will guide the work of a new business incubator named for the city's most esteemed Black businessman.
The creation of the advisory board for the Darrell S. Freeman Sr. Incubation and Innovation Center comes days before it begins accepting applications for its first cohort. Fisk University, one of Nashville's four historically Black colleges and universities, is home to the operation, which was boosted by a $10 million Metro allocation of federal Covid-19 relief aid.
Freeman was a prolific entrepreneur, business investor and mentor to countless people in the community. It's been nearly two years since he died, at 57. His ascent began when he bootstrapped an information technology company in North Nashville, near Fisk's campus.
The incubator's advisory board includes:
- Sherry Deutschmann, who founded a medical patient billing and printing company called LetterLogic, which she sold in 2016. She's a nationally recognized entrepreneur who now runs BrainTrust, an organization designed to propel women-owned businesses beyond $1 million in annual revenue.
- Michelle Brown, a senior manager of public policy at Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN).
- Mignon Francois, founder of The Cupcake Collection.
- EJ Reed, one of three co-founders of Slim & Husky's Pizza Beeria restaurant chain and a protege of Freeman's.
- Rod McDaniel, CEO of S3 Recycling Solutions and another Freeman mentee.
- LaTanya Channel, former statewide director for the U.S. Small Business Administration and former economic development chief for Metro.
- David Klements, founder of Qualifacts, a health care software company, and now an operating partner at equity investor Frontier Growth.
- Pearl Amanfu, Metro's first-ever digital inclusion officer (holding an ex-officio seat on the board).
Holly Rachel, executive director of the incubator, confirmed the names and said her goal was assembling entrepreneurs with a range of experiences and expertise, in different industries.
"We want to build programming that has impact for Nashville businesses and the obstacles they're facing," Rachel said. "That's being a business owner in Nashville, being a woman-owned business in Nashville, being a minority-owned business in Nashville. The goal is, how do we set the foundation for you to be successful in the future?"
Applications open April 8
The incubator, operated and funded by Fisk and corporate donors, starts its first cohort in May. It's titled "Bankable Business Bootcamp," focused on how startups can scale using small-business loans and positioning their businesses to receive those loans.
More information can be found here, including a QR code for applying.
Rachel said she anticipates accepting 10 to 15 businesses. They'll have access to bankers, accountants and lawyers who can hold one-on-one strategy sessions, as well as "provide an environment … to help businesses set up their strategies and have some accountability partners to hep them move through milestones."
Rachel said any company not accepted will be able to tune into the virtual sessions that will be part of the programming.
She's planning to hold another cohort in the fall.
