The strategy for Innovation Village started in 2017, as a multi-phase endeavor to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem and a growing number of remote workers. The Inventor Center, the first phase of Innovation Village, was opened in 2018, with a $540,000 grant from the city to create the region’s premier maker-space and prototyping center. Designed to be a community center for the region and include a combination of tools and equipment for both inventors and those looking to gain new skills, the Inventor Center continues growing with now over 80 monthly members of makers, hobbyists, and entrepreneurs.

The second phase added the Center for Digital Innovation including a 9,000 square foot digital media center in partnership with Create Appalachia, the region’s leading organization promoting the traditional and digital artists of Appalachia. This partnership includes a $430,000 contribution to the center by Create Appalachia as part of an Appalachian Regional Commission grant received to expand access and opportunity to the arts for entrepreneurs and creators of central Appalachia.
 
Phase 3 and 4 are currently underway. Phase three has a workshop and assembly incubator and the introduction of an official Entertainment Office as part of the Tennessee Entertainment Commission, marking the first office of this kind for the northeast Tennessee region.

Phase four, kicking off in July 2022 includes the deployment of an ARC grant where more than 250k will be used to purchase mobile digital media classrooms to be used in digital media training programs for the surrounding rural, social and economic disadvantaged communities.