Nashville Entrepreneur Center
Confidential · Prepared for FirstBank · September 2026
FirstBank & Nashville Entrepreneur Center
Partnership proposal · FirstBank Scholars in TakeOff and InFlight, 2027 · NEXT Awards, October 19, 2026
Two decisions, taken separately. The first makes FirstBank the tuition partner of Nashville Entrepreneur Center's two accelerators for new and growing small businesses and puts FirstBank bankers in the room with those founders every week. The second puts FirstBank and its leadership on the floor at NEXT on October 19.
Decision 1 · 2027 program year
$25,000annual · $12,500 per cohort · Spring and Fall 2027
- FirstBank Scholars: tuition for 10 to 20 founders per cohort
- The FirstBank Half Hour before every TakeOff and InFlight class
- Two-year tracking of every scholar, reported to FirstBank
- FirstBank's name on both programs
Decision 2 · NEXT Awards 2026
$10,000Monday, October 19 · Schermerhorn
- Exclusive valet parking partnership, with branded messaging placed inside 200+ vehicles of local business leaders
- VIP table, 10 seats, among about 600 entrepreneurs and business leaders
- Logo on program and screens, full sponsor packet
What FirstBank receives
FirstBank Scholars
10–20 founders per cohort · 2 cohorts in 2027
- TakeOff tuition is $500, InFlight is $1,000. $12,500 per cohort covers part or all of tuition for 10 to 20 founders.
- Scholars selected by the EC program team through its existing aid review. In 2025 the EC awarded $53,750 in aid to 35 companies.
- Every scholar is told, in writing, that FirstBank paid for the seat.
The FirstBank Half Hour
~48 sessions a year · Mondays and Tuesdays, 12:30 PM
- TakeOff meets Mondays 1 to 4 PM, InFlight Tuesdays 1 to 4 PM, 12 weeks per cohort.
- Scholars meet FirstBank bankers for 30 minutes before class: a standing roundtable on cash flow, credit, payroll, whatever is on the table that week.
- No curriculum to write, no book to assign. FirstBank sets the roster; the EC runs the room.
Scholar tracking
Revenue · headcount · capital raised · 2 years
- Every 2027 scholar enters EC alumni programming with FirstBank flagged as sponsor.
- Report to FirstBank twice a year; channel stays open so FirstBank can stay in touch with the founders it funded.
- 2025 graduates: 193 founders across 5 accelerators. $3.6M raised and 155 jobs created during the programs (Spring and Fall 2025 final surveys).
- Alumni through December 2025: 244 companies, $256M in revenue, $146M in capital raised, 1,935 jobs (cumulative, 2025 EC annual report).
Program branding
2 program pages · every session · EC social · annual report
- Listed as tuition partner on the TakeOff and InFlight pages at ec.co and on session slides at every class.
- Named in cohort announcements to the EC list and in scholar stories on EC social channels.
- "FirstBank Scholar" is a named program, so every mention of a scholar carries the bank's name.
Ask a Banker
Office hours · panels · 1,325 advisor sessions in 2025
- FirstBank bankers join the EC office-hours rotation for members and all accelerator participants.
- First call for capital-readiness panels and Lunch and Learn sessions. Volume set by FirstBank.
Why this fits FirstBank
Local
96 founders
In TakeOff and InFlight this fall. These are Nashville's newest businesses, forming their first banking habits, at a bank headquartered in Nashville that decides locally.
Small business
76% first-time
Founders in 2025 cohorts. FirstBank is building out SBA and small-business lending in 2026. Scholars are pre-vetted, in a structured 12-week program, and meet FirstBank before they have a lender.
Champion
The name on the seat
"FirstBank Scholar" is what the founder says onstage at Nashville Entrepreneur Day, in the press, and in the alumni story two years later.
What FirstBank does
- Names 2 to 4 bankers for the Half Hour rotation, Mondays and Tuesdays at 12:30 PM during each 12-week cohort
- Supplies a logo and a one-line description for program pages and slides
- Joins office hours and panels at whatever volume it chooses
- Nothing else. The EC selects scholars, runs the room, and reports
What the EC reports
- Scholars funded and named, each cohort
- Half Hour attendance and office-hours volume
- Revenue, headcount, and capital raised for every FirstBank Scholar, twice a year for two years
- The EC manages the cadence. FirstBank is not asked to chase.
Calendar
September
NEXT Awards sponsorship confirmed to make printOctober 19
NEXT Awards, Schermerhorn. FirstBank leadership on the floor, VIP table of 10By January
2027 partnership confirmed so FirstBank Scholars can be named in Spring offer letters, sent in FebruaryFebruary and September 2027
Spring and Fall cohorts begin. Half Hour starts week one