Board Member Spotlight: Austin Thompson
Austin Thompson is one of the four recently appointed board members at theCO, serving alongside Beth Wilson, Andre Gist, and Kevin Adelsberger. But Austin’s board membership is just the newest thing he has done at theCO. He is the CEO of Thompson Industries, which he conducts out of theCO, specializing in social media marketing and small business consulting. Austin’s side hustle turned business number 2, Random Pieces of Wood, is also run out of theCO, where he makes and sells laser engraved gifts. Austin has lead multiple Meetups; his newest one being “Vets in Business,” where he looks to develop a community for veterans and provide them with personal or entrepreneurial resources.
Jackson Escape Rooms Recommends CO.STARTERS
“When we started Jackson Escape Rooms in the spring of 2015, we had no idea what we were doing. Frankly, we had no business being in business.” Lee Wilson, owner of Jackson Escape Rooms, attributes much of his business success to his time in CO.STARTERS.
Lee and his team had just completed a three week pop up version of Jackson Escape Rooms. They faced an interesting dilemma - huge success. According to Lee, “we had all this success we never anticipated. No knowledge. No information. No way of knowing what to do next.”
So he began to search for something to help him during this strange crisis. He found out about CO.STARTERS and decided to participate.
theCOtoberfest Details
theCOtoberfest is theCO’s biggest celebration in the year, and is a time where the community can come enjoy the good things happening at theCO. As theCO has evolved, theCOtoberfest has changed with it, and every year more and more makers and artists get to showcase their talents. This year will include makers demos, a film festival, booths, games, and more!
theCOtoberfest 2018
theCOtoberfest is theCO’s biggest celebration in the year, and is a time where the community can come enjoy the good things happening at theCO. As theCO has evolved, theCOtoberfest has changed with it, and every year more and more makers and artists get to showcase their talents. This year will include makers demos, a film festival, booths, games, and more!
Check out the information below to learn more about the event, and how to get involved!
Vets in Business
Austin Thompson graduated from high school in 1995, joined the army, and became an M1A1 Abrams Systems Mechanic. Which he says “is just a really fancy name for tank mechanic.” After basic training in Fort Knox in Kentucky, he got married just before being stationed in Korea for a year away from his family and wife. He sustained a back injury during a training accident in Korea, and was sent to Fort Raleigh in Kansas, where he got medically discharged.
Board Member Spotlight: Kevin Adelsberger
theCO recently added four new board members in the beginning of August, to help provide fiscal and policy oversight, as well as helping to provide insight for long term planning. But one of the most important things about these new members, is that they are some of the first board members who are also CO:workers. Kevin Adelsberger is one of the four newest members, and he has run his business, Adelsberger Marketing out of theCO for the past four years.
An Introduction to the Resident Co Workers at theCO
theCO in Jackson Tennessee functions as a space for entrepreneurs to run their business out of a place that is not their home, as well as offering services or connections to entrepreneurs who need assistance or training with grant writing, branding, or marketing. theCO has a large number of members that work at theCO daily, but there are a few companies that have a “resident” coworking space.
Made at theCO: Brandon Lawson
Have you ever been somewhere around town and seen a piece of furniture or decoration that you really like but that completely breaks the bank in price? Brandon Lawson knows what that’s like. When he saw a rustic American flag hanging at a local business in Jackson and was deterred by the price tag, he decided he would build his own. He started in his kitchen, chiseling out stars by hand, until he had his own wooden flag.