Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The Company Lab signed a partnership Wednesday to turn research into marketable products and help deep-tech start-ups scale in Chattanooga.
Chattanooga is targeting quantum, energy and transportation ventures, with Co.Lab saying the tie-up links a premier research institution to the city's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.
More than 50 companies have already gone through Oak Ridge's Innovation Crossroads program, and over half stayed in Tennessee, giving the new effort a model for keeping founders and jobs in-state.
EPB and city leaders said Chattanooga's fiber network, self-healing grid and existing Oak Ridge collaborations could help build a broader quantum ecosystem and higher-paying knowledge-economy jobs.