LaunchTN leadership named

Posted: Tuesday, January 22, 2013 12:01 am

Charlie Brock has been named the new president and chief executive officer of Launch Tennessee,  a public-private partnership focused on supporting the creation and development of high-growth companies in Tennessee.
Stuart McWhorter has been named the organization’s new vice-chair.
“LaunchTN is a critical component of our state’s economic development strategy and a unique platform to facilitate an environment where Tennessee’s great entrepreneurial DNA can be unleashed to help create the next FedEx, Pilot or HCA,” state Commissioner of Economic and Community Development Bill Hagerty stated in a news release.
In 1998, Brock helped establish Foxmark Media and grew it into one of the nation’s largest mall advertising companies.
As the CEO and largest shareholder, he structured two rounds of private financing before selling the company in 2006 to Australia-based EYE Corp., one of the world’s leading out-of-home media companies. After selling Foxmark, Brock helped launch FourBridges Capital Advisors, a lower-middle market investment bank based in Chattanooga where Brock served as managing director.
Brock most recently served as a general partner of the Chattanooga Renaissance Fund, a Chattanooga-based angel investment group, and as the CEO of CO.LAB, a Chattanooga accelerator that provides advice and mentoring services to entrepreneurs and runs the summer Gig Tank program.
Brock is an organizer and director of CapitalMark Bank and Trust in Chattanooga and also serves as a director of The Dixie Group and Park Media Software.
McWhorter is co-founder and president of Clayton Associates, a venture capital firm based in Brentwood.  He is also chairman of the board of Medical Reimbursements of America and Censis Technologies as well as a board member of FCA Venture Partners, Haven Behavioral Healthcare, 24/7 Sports, and FirstBank of Tennessee.
Launch Tennessee is a public-private partnership focused on supporting the development of high-growth companies in the State of Tennessee with the ultimate goal of fostering job creation and economic growth.

, ,