THE RESOURCES
Having the BEST program in Davidson County has been critical to the success of BEST. Being under 30 minutes from world-class resources and people willing to volunteer as instructors, speakers and mentors allowed 83 volunteers to participate in the pilot class. Some noteworthy resources are highlighted below:
PreFlight - Nashville Entrepreneur Center
Created in Spring 2014 as a 14 week pre-Accelerator with the goal of fleshing out a business idea (products or services), PreFlight teaches the basics of entrepreneurship with mentor support. A total of 52 companies and ideas have been explored as of summer 2015.
Click PreFlight to hear more about the program and its impact in the community.
The leadership of the EC, first with inaugural CEO Dr. Michael Burcham, COO Sam Lingo, and now CEO Stuart McWhorter, has been so supportive of the mission of BEST. This support is demonstrated in many ways including taking in BEST under the EC 501(c)(3) umbrella as a program of the EC, allowing BEST to use meeting space, access to the building, maintaining a mailbox and even processing donations made to BEST. The staff has gone the extra mile to assist BEST providing graphic design services (thanks Gradi), connections with EC mentors (thanks Jeff), and especially teaching the PreFlight curriculum (thanks John).
Innertainment Delivery Systems
Dr. Turner Nashe, Jr., President of Innertainment Delivery Systems (IDS) has become a major champion of BEST. He is a major cheerleader for BEST as well as a generous benefactor. Early on, Turner offered to donate the use of as many electronic tablets produced by IDS as we needed. He even arranged for the personnel to install the files on the devices (thanks, Hunter!).
Working collaboratively with the EC, the PreFlight curriculum (pdf book and videos) was installed on the tablets saving BEST the expense of reproducing 22 copies of a 263 page document and enabling the BEST participants to become familiar with 21st century technology ubiquitous in the freeworld. This is particularly noteworthy because not only was this the first time electronic tablets were used inside a Tennessee prison, it was (as far as we know) the first time in the world that entrepreneurship curriculum was delivered behind bars on electronic tablets.
At the April 24, 2015 Graduation, Turner, the keynote speaker, made a jaw-dropping announcement: He has created the $25,000 BEST Microfund for graduates who choose to apply and qualify for a loan to start their business.This is so encouraging to the graduates. Usually individuals with a felony record do not qualify for loans and it takes a long time to re-establish a good credit record. That means that it can take years to save up enough money to purchase needed startup equipment. Having this loan resource could cut down the time to actually start up their business by years.
Tennessee Department of Correction
The support and encouragement BEST has received from the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) has been outstanding. From the interest shown by Commissioner Derrick Schofield to the daily support of the Charles Bass Correctional Complex Warden S. Nixon and Associate Wardens of Treatment P. Ryan, D. Haskins, R. Perry, it would be hard to imagine a better situation for the BEST pilot. One of the unexpected, but much appreciated, accolades came from Deputy Commissioner J. Woodall who spoke at the Graduation. He stated that BEST was the best program he had seen in his 23 years in corrections! In the beginning, working behind the scenes on behalf of BEST was Assistant Commissioner of Rehabilitatative Service William Gupton. After Bill moved to Memphis, AC Dr. Marina Cadreche picked up the reins and has been a wonderful supporter as well. Emily O'Malley-Laursen, Vanessa Moore and Michael Johnson have all contributed greatly to the success of BEST, assisting in helping to navigate through the system.
Belmont University EntrePartneurs
Erin Anderson's students in the Entrepreneurship 3800 class were an amazing asset to the program. Although there was an initial shock and even some apprehension about going to prison as part of their class, everyone agreed that it was a unique and valuable experience. The 20 students were partnered one-on-one with BEST participants as EntrePartneurs - entrepreneur + partners. As the spring semester progressed, they worked together to develop the PreFlight Launch Plans. The students were able to apply all their business and entrepreneurship training in an authentic way. They were able to teach and mentor their EntrePartners by helping think through all the elements of the plans, asking questions, seeking answers, orienting the insiders to where to find the information needed to make good business decisions. Then, they were the researchers on the outside finding data and bringing it back to continue creating the plans using authentic information.
Lipscomb University - Nelson & Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership
The BEST program became the master's project of the researcher who could not have done this without the prescient guidance and encouragement of Linda Peek Schacht. Linda has been on board the BEST train since the very beginning pointing in the right direction, encouraging, admonishing, coaching and guiding through all the phases of this project. She even submitted the project to be considered as a featured part of Dr. Randolph Lowry's May 2 Graduation address. Click below to hear part of that speech starting at 1:27:20 and going to 1:30:22.
Benefactors
Without the generous benefactors, purchasing the necessary books and materials would not have been possible. It is with deep appreciation that the following foundations and individuals are recognized and thanked:
Robert Weber Memorial Fund - Edna Weber
The Wolf Family Foundation - Lingo and Wolf families
The Weber Family Foundation - Anne Weber
OLIKIM - D. Robertson and L. Bartlett
Mary and Bill Brennan
Dr. Turner Nashe, Jr. & Phylanice Nashe - BEST Microfund
In Kind Donors
Nashville Entrepreneur Center - mailbox, copies, meeting space, consultation, PreFlight instruction
Donovan Robertson - books, materials
Innertainment Delivery Systems - electronic tablets
Mark Cleveland - books
DevDigital - e-mail service and support
Jordan Davis - books, Cash Flow games
Volunteer Time from 83 volunteers: $150,423