Tom Rogers is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Tennessee Research Park (UTRP) and a valued partner of Three Roots Capital. Rogers has spent his career supporting entrepreneurship and business development efforts in the region and has a long history with the Three Roots team.

Rogers started his career at the Tennessee Valley Authority, eventually moving to the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, as its President and Chief Operating Officer. In 1995, he founded the venture development organization, Technology 2020 (Tech 2020), and served as the Executive Director of the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation (now Launch Tennessee). Prior to joining UTRP, he spent over a decade at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, serving as the Director of Industrial Partnerships and Economic Development and founding the Innovation Crossroads program.

“I guess you can say I’ve hit for the cycle – I’ve worked for all the ‘Big Three’ – TVA, ORNL and now UT,” joked Rogers. “I’ve had great opportunities to work with some really good people, people who share my passion for making this region a better place.”

No matter what new position he finds himself in or organizations he has worked for over the years, Rogers has always found himself gravitating back toward entrepreneurship, particularly in relation to science and technology innovation coming from the university or national lab.

“There are lots of organizations that are in the business of attracting companies. That’s important. But what I like to do is help create companies, not just attract them,” said Rogers. “Entrepreneurs are important because they translate science into impact. I think they bring passion and drive to the table and are really important as part of the process of commercializing the science and tech we create here.”

With the rise of hardtech startups launching out of East Tennessee, Rogers emphasized the importance of attracting capital to the area to keep these companies here or risk their relocating elsewhere. He believes Three Roots’ mission is an important piece of this puzzle.

“I think that everyone in the region recognizes that access to capital is an issue. Everyone recognizes that while we’ve had some success, we’ve not cracked the code on that,” said Rogers. “I’m grateful that Three Roots has agreed to take the lead to continue to work on that issue. Because if we want this region to be the entrepreneurial hub that we think it can be, capital is going to be an important part of the equation.”

Rogers met – and hired – much of the Three Roots team while leading at Tech 2020 and is proud of the work they accomplished during his tenure. Rogers remained on the Board of Directors of Tech 2020 when he left to join ORNL. Some years later, the nonprofit folded its operations as a venture development organization. Rogers admitted he was initially skeptical of the plan to pivot and focus exclusively on access to capital, but he ultimately has been impressed by how Grady Vanderhoofven, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, and his team took Tech 2020’s charter and CDFI certification and – “like a phoenix rising from the ashes” – reinvented and regrew it. Rogers and Three Roots have continued to find ways to work together over the years. Examples he cited include the creation of TennesSeed Fund, which invested in Active Energy Systems, a Research Park Spark client, and the assistance Three Roots has provided by financing several real estate development projects at the Research Park.

“Tom Rogers has been an instrumental figure in my career and in the lives of so many others in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge region,” said Vanderhoofven. “I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish together with respect to access to capital when Tom was leading Tech 2020 and in the years since. We’ve partnered recently to secure a federal grant to drive investment to projects and companies at UTRP, which is an Opportunity Zone, and worked together to explore mechanisms to address the need for capital for young and start-up companies in this region. I look forward to more opportunities to collaborate.”

With the launch of the Spark Cleantech Accelerator and other opportunities, Rogers is optimistic about the future of the Spark Innovation Center. From offering incubator space to expert mentoring, Rogers is looking forward to helping hardtech startups grow and have real-world impact.

“We’ve learned a lot in four decades. We have a wonderful team of people, both at UTRP and with our partners and collaborators,” said Rogers. “I call it place-based innovation. We want the park to be the place where the most promising hardtech startups gravitate. In a few years, you’ll see a beehive of activity that I think the whole region will be proud of.”

Three Roots Capital took substantial steps forward in 2021 and celebrated our five-year anniversary of providing capital, coaching, and connections to companies and projects in the greater East Tennessee region. As we move into the new year, I want to reflect on some of our more notable accomplishments from last year.

In 2021, Three Roots made more new loans and investments – including senior loans, subordinated debt, and equity investments – than in any previous year in our history. We achieved a major milestone of having more than $100 million of total assets under management, we raised more than $20 million of new capital for lending and investing, and we deployed almost $19 million of capital. I’m proud of the work we have been able to accomplish, and how we have continued to grow and deploy vital pools of capital for companies and projects that need financing.

Three Roots’ portfolio currently includes companies and projects in fourteen (14) counties in Tennessee, including Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Cookeville, Chattanooga, Johnson City, Memphis and many rural and suburban areas in between. Our portfolio includes a mix of place-making commercial real estate projects, microloans, small business loans, affordable housing projects, and equity investments in companies and projects in Tennessee, Kentucky, and South Carolina.

We have made loans to multiple nonprofit organizations, along with investments in small business startups and companies supported by venture capital investors. Three Roots participated in the creation of a minority-owned and woman-owned startup company, providing the company with essential business coaching and critical seed capital, along with meeting a practical need by supplying the company’s first desk. Projects like these are important to Three Roots because they help fulfill one part of our mission: economic and community development.

This past year, we worked on economic development projects funded by the U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Entity (CDE), we believe projects like these play a crucial role in generating economic growth and positive social impact in some of the most needful low income and rural communities of East Tennessee and the surrounding region.

I’m also happy to announce Three Roots added two new bank partners this year: Planters Bank and CBBC Bank. Both financial institutions are champions of community impact and great additions to our roster of bank partners, and both have increased the capital available in Three Roots’ toolbox.  With the support of these banks, we will be able to continue our mission of stimulating economic growth and creating positive social impact throughout Tennessee and the Appalachian region for years to come.

Lastly, I want to thank all the partners and collaborators we have worked with over the past five years. Our fifth anniversary milestone created an opportunity to reflect again on the fact that we have worked with amazing banks, businesses, community organizations, institutions, individuals, state and federal agencies, and other entities over the years. We could not be more grateful for the support and guidance we have received from our partners and for the confidence in us they have demonstrated by choosing to work with us. In these short five years, we have accomplished much, and I look forward to what more we can do in the next five years with powerful and potent partnerships like these.

Looking ahead into 2022, I am most hopeful about our opportunity and ability to continue to expand our lending and investing activity to increase and compound the positive economic and social impacts we can make in the communities in which we do business.