Member Spotlight: Seth Reid
Tell me a little about yourself. I study history at Union University, and [I’m] about to start my senior year. I just got married a month ago. With my job . . . I do a lot of different things. I work for an insurance technology consulting firm that also does operations management consulting Tampa, Florida. I got connected with my boss a few years ago and have been working for [them] since then. I do kind of the website development. Actually, it's all kind of goes with the same idea. . . . We're resale. We do online trainings online, courses, insurance, and insurance technology. My branch and some other stuff.
Our Jackson Home: A Night of Storytelling at the AMP
A Night of Storytelling is a biannual Our Jackson Home event that seeks to create a warm environment for you to dig deeper into the people and places of our city by hearing personal stories from your Jackson neighbors—but lucky you, we’re doing THREE events this year including 731Day! This event is family-friendly and free, and food trucks will be set up starting at 5pm. Click here to read about our awesome presenters and performers.
Dev Catalyst Students Are Leaders in Our TechHire City
Jackson, Tennessee, along with seventy-two other communities across the nation, is a TechHire city. But what does that mean? For CO:member and local business owner Austin Thompson and theCO’s Dev Catalyst program, it means an opportunity to create opportunity for young tech talent in the area.
The TechHire initiative was created by the Obama Administration in 2015. The project, however, lives on today. Its main mission is to support the growing technology fields in the nation. Cities selected have shown dedication to supporting training for technology-related jobs and companies that strive to create a more diverse workplace. The initiative is currently under Opportunity@Work, a nonprofit organization designed to empower Americans in today's economic world.
Our Jackson Home: #731Day2017
731Day is a celebration of Jackson and all those who are proud to be a part of West Tennessee! Every July 31 (7/31) we choose to enjoy the beauty of our city and the people who make it better every day.
Join us Monday, July 31, for our second annual celebration of 731Day! Join us Monday, July 31, 2017, for our second annual celebration of 731Day! Featuring A Night of Storytelling, downtown bar crawl, #OJHshop pop-up, and Jackson’s biggest water balloon fight, as well as plenty of local businesses offering special 731Day deals. Plus, we will be launching our August-November journal (Vol. 3, Issue 2: Day & Night) as well as some new merch. The best way you can get involved is by offering a special #731day deal for your business to mobilize people throughout our community and to support all things local.
Get out in your community this 731Day, and don't forget to tag your posts with #731day and #731day2017! Learn more here.
CO.STARTERS Spotlight: Nebulosity Music & Arts Festival
What is Nebfest?
Kari Howard: It’s a 3D music festival. You’ve got three stages, vendors, a fire-breathers workshop you can attend. It’s basically like one big, happy summer music festival right here in Atwood, Tennessee.
Heath McKissick: Nebfest is three days, [. . .] 30+ artists. Rock, reggae, indie rock. [. . .] Everything’s a show. [. . .] We have workshops the whole weekend. You can come and learn how to juggle, you can learn how to eat fire, you can do belly dancing, you can do yoga. [. . .] You pay one ticket, and you just come for the whole weekend.
Kari: You know, we’re in the Bible Belt, and so we’re Southern. So we’re trying to mix this summer fun crowd with the—what should we call it?—“music artsy festival” crowd. [. . .] So we’re trying to just combine the two into one like transformational weekend, you know? They get exposed to the culture that they’re involved with, and they kind of get exposed to the culture of Jackson and the surrounding cities. Yeah, it’s super cultural, and it’s something very unique to Jackson that nobody else is doing.
CO.STARTERS Pitch Night Celebrates Another Group of Entrepreneurs
From the start, theCO has been committed to helping entrepreneurs in West Tennessee, and CO.STARTERS is the vehicle we use to support them. It’s a nine week program that equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the insights, relationships, and tools needed to turn their business ideas into action. The spring 2017 CO.STARTERS class is coming to a close, and that means one thing: Pitch Night!
Made at theCO: Father's Day Edition
A coworking makerspace brings endless possibilities to the creative. It has even served as a collaboration destination for father and son creators Bryan and Nathan Britt.
The Britts first heard about theCO last October as a Jackson Christian School (JCS) teacher asked his student Nathan to be a part of theCO’s second annual celebration of theCOtoberfest.
“He got to display the catapult basketball game he had created for a project at school in their science class makerspace lab,” Nathan’s father Bryan said.
Since then, the father-and-son team have used theCO to create everything from fidget spinners using 3D printers and signs using the CNC router. It is the environment, Bryan says, that makes the difference.
Our Jackson Home: Jackson's Top BBQ Tour
Here at theCO, we understand that local restaurant owners are some of the toughest entrepreneurs out there, and lucky us, frequenting their businesses is pretty fun! Check out this Our Jackson Home Top BBQ Tour by Katie Howerton highlighting five of our city's tastiest spots