Accelerating entrepreneurship through community with Janet Miller

For 10 years, the Nashville Entrepreneur Center (NEC) has been the “front door” to entrepreneurship in our city, making Nashville the best place in the country to start and grow a business. 

In the “Power of 10” blog post series, we’re telling the story of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center through the eyes of the entrepreneurs who built it. These 10 interviews will explore the history of the EC, and the impact it’s had on the community, building a strong foundation of entrepreneurship that made Nashville the city it is today. This is the fifth of 10 posts in this series; check back soon for more!

For thirty years, Janet Miller has been working hard to make Nashville an “it” city. As the CEO and Market Leader of Colliers Nashville, she grew the company to achieve an $800 million transaction volume in 2018, making it a cornerstone of real estate and development. She’s the former Economic Development Chief for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, and a member of boards across the city.

And she’s no stranger to the word “entrepreneur.”

While working with the Chamber of Commerce in 2010, Janet was a key player to drive Partnership 2010 – an initiative that would unify the city’s entrepreneurs and ultimately result in the founding of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center later that year.

“There wasn’t a real place to start for entrepreneurs and that’s how the EC was founded,” said Miller. “People who have already been through starting a business can offer up their talents to bring up the next generation.”

She found that the legendary entrepreneurs of Nashville truly came together to form the concept of the entrepreneur center as a whole, with a mission of giving back to those who were coming up behind them.

The project relied on those who had been there and done that, like founding CEO Michael Burcham, Nashville Technology Council leader Tod Fetherling, and more – successful entrepreneurs and business people who were looking to make Nashville a better place to create, launch and grow their business. And when the Nashville Entrepreneur Center moved from its original office on Broadway to the trolley barns in Rolling Mill Hill, Janet went with it, joining as the board’s Governance chair.

“It was never about the brick and mortar, it was always about the people,” said Miller.

Miller feels the Nashville EC has truly accelerated the growth of businesses throughout Tennessee and feels the EC is the product of a true success story. If you want to join an ecosystem that’s helping to make Nashville the best place in America to start a business, click here to learn more!