Nashville Entrepreneur Center Announces Finalists, Tickets Available
for 2021 NEXT Awards
Annual event, scheduled for Oct. 25, celebrates Middle Tennessee entrepreneurs for their impact on the
greater Nashville area
Nashville, Tenn. (Sept 8, 2021) – The Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s NEXT Awards (NEC) has announced
finalists for the 2021 NEXT Awards, an annual ceremony recognizing entrepreneurs who are transforming
industries and strengthening the Middle Tennessee community. NEC has also announced tickets are now
available for the event which will be hosted at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center on Oct. 25
from 5:30 – 9:00 p.m. Attendees can purchase tickets–VIP or Balcony–and find more details at
www.ec.co/next-awards.
2021 NEXT Awards winners will be announced the night of the event. Two winners in each category–
Emerging companies with less than $1 million in annual revenue and Market Mover companies with $1
million or more in annual revenue–will be recognized in these categories: Products, Services and Retail;
Healthcare; Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction; Music, Sports and Entertainment; and Technology.
Finalists for this year’s awards are:
Emerging Companies Market Movers
Healthcare:
● Advocatia – Ryan Brebner and Laura Robbins
● Care Sherpa – Jessica Walker
● Healing Innovations, Inc. – Luke Benda, Braden
Davidson and Scott Benda
Music, Sports, and Entertainment:
● Bauer Entertainment Marketing – Brian Bauer
● Gild Creative Group, Inc. – Tiffany Hardin
● Grayscale Marketing – Tim Gray
Products, Services and Retail:
● Granite Test Prep – Grantly Neely
● people3, Inc. – Candace Warner
● Fancy Sips – Sam Remboldt
Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction:
Healthcare:
● Darvis – Jan Schlüter and Jan-Philipp Mohr
● MediCopy – Elliott Noble-Holt
● Thalamus – Jason Reminick and Suzie Karan
Music, Sports, and Entertainment:
● mtheory Nashville – Cameo Carlson
● Single Music – Tommy Stalknecht and Taylor
O’Connor
● Songfluencer – Johnny Cloherty and Sean Pace
Products, Services and Retail:
● Ethnix Group – Johan Madriz and Merari
Villatoro
● Studio Bank – Aaron Dorn and Harry Allen
● Thistle Farms – Becca Stevens
● Yoshi – Bryan Frist
● BirdNest – Veteran Benefits Corporation – Joshua
Byrd and Molli Byrd
● Pillars Development – Edward Henley
● Real 3d Space – Shane Atwell, Matt Booker and
Preston Stutzman
Technology:
● Cloud Range – Debbie Gordon
● CodeX Academy – Phil Henry, Christian Morsing
and Byron Sommardahl
● MinTech Agency – Karen Williams
Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction:
● Certified Construction Services – Jared Bradley
and Ashley Bradley
● Richland Building Partners -Chris Barnhizer
● The Clear Blue Company – Nick Ogden
Technology:
● Possip – Shani Dowell and Christine Fisher
● Silex Data Solutions – Ryan Smith
● Stratasan – Jason Moore and Brian Dailey
Additionally, the NEXT Awards will honor two innovative founders across all industries with the
Emerging Entrepreneur of 2021 Award (less than $1M revenue) and Entrepreneur of 2021 Award (more
than $1M revenue) and the 2021 Entrepreneur Hall of Fame inductees for their life-long contributions to
Nashville’s entrepreneurial community. The evening is supported by its major sponsors Fourth Capital,
EY and Lisle Parham Wealth Management. To learn more about Nashville Entrepreneur Center and its
programs, click here.
About Nashville Entrepreneur Center
The Nashville Entrepreneur Center (NEC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) founded in 2010 by business leaders
who wanted to support the next generation of entrepreneurs and to celebrate the spirit and tenacity of
the entrepreneurial community. The NEC serves as Nashville’s center for entrepreneurship, supporting
visionaries—from every background, in any industry, and at all phases—by connecting them to critical
resources and championing their desire to change the world. Learn more about the NEC by following
@entrecenter on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and at www.EC.co.
