One of the little known branches of our city government is the Office of Multicultural Affairs. James McKissic has been the Director of the office for nearly four years and in that time the department has become more active in the community. In this episode, James shares the vision of the department and how they work to make Chattanooga a more equitable place for all of our city's diverse cultural populations.

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Hal Bowling is a co-founder of LAUNCH, an organization created to help bridge the gap between the entrepreneurial eco-system of our city and those who have been traditional left out of the story. Starting in Alton Park six years ago, the mission of LAUNCH is to empower underserved communities and individuals through entrepreneurship. In this episode we discuss the history of LAUNCH and how it helped create and incubate over 100 local businesses right here in our community.

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Fred Fletcher was given a task when he was sworn in as the Chief of Police of the Chattanooga Police Department in 2004: create a culture of community policing and incorporate best practices in order to make Chattanooga a safer community, for everyone. In today's interview we discuss what community policing is and how it is not just a buzz word for our police department, but a guiding philosophy. Through laying out a clear mission and vision, engaging the community, and incorporating new technology and departments, Police Chief Fred Fletcher is creating a police force that is well equipped to serve our city.

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This is the second half of our conversation about Causeway with Executive Director Abby Garrison. In the first half we discussed the vision and history of Causeway and in this episode we get into the programming of the organization and the innovative ways that they empower community members to help solve the various challenges in our city. In this episode we really try to highlight to key events that Causeway has coming up:

Submissions for the current Causeway Challenge are due on October 29th

ONE TABLE, a community wide Thanksgiving potluck event that brings together all Chattanoogans, is coming up on Nov. 21st and we would love for you to be involved!

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Causeway is one of the most progressive and interesting non-profits in Chattanooga. Started by a group of entrepreneurs, Causeway has always valued supporting people willing to solve the problems and challenges they see in their own communities. In this first episode, Executive Director Abby Garrison explains a little of the history and evolution of Causeway from a non-profit, tech focused startup to a brick and mortar hub & front door to our Chattanooga community. Part 2 will be release Thursday, Oct. 13th, and will focus on the actual programming of Causeway, including the most current Causeway Challenge.

http://www.causeway.org/

"Chattanooga Is Our Business" by Causeway Founder Stephen Culp - http://bit.ly/2dZqmOG

Did you know we have a National Park right here in our city? Right here in the middle of Chattanooga? If you live or work downtown my guess is that you will see it or pass by it today. And yet, when you hear mention of Moccasin Bend your first thought is probably not "National Park". But the truth is that just across the river is one of the most historically rich pieces of land in the entire southern United States and finally that land is being protected to recognize that rich and historical importance. Our guest today is Michael Wurzel, Executive Director of Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park, and he is going to unpack that rich history for us as well as share the vision for this unique treasure of our city.

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This episode is part two of our StartUp Week Chattanooga preview focusing on the Co.Starter's Summit. Co.Starters is an organization that exists to help you get your idea off the ground and guide people through the landscape of entrepreneurship and business. It is also much more than that. But it is also so much more than that. Listen in as two of Co.Starters founders, Enoch Elwell and Will Joseph, share how their organization has blossomed from simply providing a curriculum into an international network of community & business leaders looking to solve problems through leveraging relationships, innovation, and business. The Summit itself is an event that runs in conjunction to StartUp Week, so in the process we run through a preview of their programming and events.

https://costarters.co/

Fall is one of the busiest seasons in Chattanooga with incredible events like Ironman, 3 Sisters Bluegrass Festival, RiverRox, & a week long celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation, and ideas: StartUp Week! In this episode I sat down with Lamp Post Group's Stephanie Hayes to preview SOME of the events happening from Oct. 3rd - 7th. This year is bigger and better than ever with approximately 175 events going on throughout our downtown. With such a diversity of events this year, StartUp Week has something for everyone!

On Thursday we will release a second preview episode with our friends at Co.Starters to talk specifically about the Co.Starter Summit that happens as a part of StartUp Week.

To create your own schedule of events for StartUp Week you can sign up here: http://bit.ly/2dfj74m

Glass Street LIVE is a community wide block party on Glass Street on Saturday, September 24th presented by the residents of East Chattanooga and organized by our good friends at Glass House Collective. Listen in to hear a preview of the event and come out an enjoy a day of parade, art, music, and history on Glass Street!

Event link: http://bit.ly/2dclEgq

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Glass House Collective - http://bit.ly/2cFUqxK

Wayne White's Incredible Puppets - http://bit.ly/2cUulMU

Sherman's Reservation - http://bit.ly/2ddNqxq

This past summer the Chattanooga City Council passed a document that will literally shape our city's future, the new Form Based Code. Breaking away from a coding system that was created in the 1950s to support the development of suburbs, the new Form Based Code is the result of community vision for more than a decade. In the Downtown Plan of 2005 and the City Center Plan of 2013 we dreamed about the future of our city. Now we have the code in place to make it a reality. Karen Hundt of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency joins us to talk about the process, vision, and details of this new coding system.

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