Earlier this year, the great Tom Ballard, editor of Teknovation.biz and Chief Alliance Officer of PYA, spoke with several angel and venture capital investors in the region, including me, about 2021 trends and our outlook moving into 2022.

At the time of that conversation, there was so much liquidity in the market that angel and venture capital were booming. I spoke about the unprecedented level of activity and wealth creation, allowing for the possibility of more capital flowing into regions, such as Tennessee, outside of traditional investing hotspots.

Unfortunately, I also predicted that a “correction” in the stock market, or an increase in the cost of capital, or in the instance of unforeseen events with severe economic consequences, there would be major disruptions in the market and the economy. My interview with Ballard ran in January 2022 and just a short time later, the war in Ukraine began, interest rates began to rise, the stock market tanked, and the price of everything from fuel to household goods became more expensive.

At a macroeconomic level, we’re dealing with economic uncertainty – everything from inflation to a looming recession. But at a microeconomic level, our community – while still experiencing some economic pain – isn’t feeling the full brunt of some of the problems facing larger metro areas and other states and regions of the country because of the massive influx of people and companies moving to our region.

With respect to jobs, we’re seeing major organizations relocating some or a significant portion of their operations to East Tennessee – as we’re seeing with Smith & Wesson and Elo Touch Solutions – because of our state’s attractiveness to business. The entrepreneurial ecosystem in east Tennessee is increasingly welcoming and attractive to start-ups and young companies, as multiple communities invest more capital and resources in creating and nurturing start-ups. Meanwhile, professionals from the East and West coasts are moving to the Knoxville area in droves to enjoy the relatively lower cost of living and high quality of life.

I believe this surge has provided a slight buffer from the worst of the current economic downturn. With more jobs available and more individuals and businesses participating in our local economy, we’re somewhat insulated from some of the worst issues of unemployment and inflation.

But this buffer doesn’t mean we’re immune to economic difficulties or that it is clear sailing ahead. Right now, we’re facing a dire need for housing of all kinds, including workforce housing and affordable housing. According to the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors, rent in the Knoxville metro area increased about 20% just last year. The median sale price for houses also increased 19.7%, making our area one of the fastest-growing markets in terms of price growth. As an added issue, housing availability is near a record low.

Three Roots Capital is aware of this issue and actively working with developers and other partners to help address this problem. We financed Foggy Bottom Flats Townhomes in the South Knoxville Waterfront District. We have partnered with Dominion Group on three projects – two in South Carolina and one in Knoxville – to bring more access to affordable and workforce housing.

Looking ahead, if we want to keep people and companies here, we need to have more collaboration between like-minded investors inside and outside of our community. I am heartened by the heightened focus on collaboration and information sharing we’re seeing lately and hope this trend continues.

As the founder of a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), I have observed in the past couple of years that more capital has been available for CDFIs from the federal government than ever before in the history of Three Roots Capital. These funds can be used to create and grow unique and potent pools of capital, like the Three Roots Capital Impact Fund, from which we make crucial equity investments and subordinated loans and other investments that we cannot make with funds we borrow from our valued bank partners. Ultimately, these funds enable us to add new tools and enhance some of the existing financing tools in our toolbox and allow us to support innovative, growing companies, such as our recent investments in Active Energy Systems, NellOne Therapeutics and SmartRIA.

Through the Three Roots Capital Impact Fund, we recently made a small equity investment in a company in Chattanooga and are in discussions with another Knoxville company to make an investment or loan. We recently have raised flexible capital from a new bank partner to support future deals like these, with a particular focus on affordable housing and minority-owned businesses. Three Roots Capital intends to do even more in the future as we grow our Impact Fund and our affiliated TennesSeed Fund.

My predictions about the current economic situation were unfortunately correct earlier this year. However, with increased collaboration between investors, developers, companies and other forward-thinking individuals, I think we can continue to grow and strengthen our region.

Working together is rarely easy – especially when facing economic uncertainty. Nevertheless, I believe collaboration is one of the most important parts of building on our current momentum to bring more capital to our region and our mission to help people and companies here to thrive.

Bryan Crosby is the Chief Executive Officer of Southeastern Packaging Technologies (SPT) and a valued partner of Three Roots Capital. SPT was a local startup that has grown and matured to offer turnkey solutions for brand managers and retail partners to seamlessly transition consumer packaged goods (CPG) in automotive and household chemicals into eco-friendly packaging.

The company’s patent portfolio includes FunLPro Closure Technologies, a high-end dispensing system for CPG fluid containers, and proprietary Bag-in-Box and Stand-up-Pouch systems that reduce plastic waste by up to 85 percent and maximize storage space.

A Maryville native, Crosby was drafted to play for the Milwaukee Brewers out of high school. In 2009, he returned to Tennessee to attend Middle Tennessee State University and then worked in financial services for a few years. He returned to Knoxville in 2014 to start his MBA program at the University of Tennessee (UTK) as an Entrepreneur Fellow and to develop a business plan for commercializing the FunLPro, a unique pouring device invented by his father and business partner.

At UTK, the Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation named Crosby one of four student-led startup company winners in the fall 2014 Boyd Venture Challenge, where he received $7,500 to finance his growing company. It was during this “Shark Tank-style” challenge that Crosby met Chris Miller before he became Chief Financial Officer at Three Roots Capital. The two stayed in touch, and Miller connected him with the rest of the Three Roots team after Miller joined Three Roots.

“I always enjoy working with Three Roots because they know their space better than anyone,” emphasized Crosby. “It’s been an absolute pleasure working with them over the years. They are filling a very big and meaningful void in the funding market for East Tennessee.”

Despite his company’s growth, Crosby remarked that it is challenging to gain access to traditional financing as a small business in a rural area. In 2018, Three Roots provided SPT with a loan through their Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP).

“We got it closed very quickly,” said Crosby. “We used the $50,000 RMAP loan to buy tooling for an injection mold machine that manufacturers our mechanisms for flexible packaging.”

At the moment, Crosby said the SPT team is working diligently to transition or “cross the chasm” from startup mode to a more traditional business model. The Three Roots staff has been an invaluable source of expertise during this process, explained Crosby.

“If we have an idea about what we need, we can lay it out in a general way to them and they can tell us what to do in about 10 minutes,” said Crosby. “It’s an extremely advantageous relationship because we don’t have to spend hours or months identifying exactly what lending sources to pursue.”