Williamson County students can now use a brand-new facility to get a leg up on their careers before graduation.¶
Interim Williamson County Superintendent Dr. Leigh Webb highlighted the opening of the district’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (EIC) campus during the board’s meeting on Monday. The EIC held its ribbon-cutting on August 7, following its December 3, 2024, groundbreaking. The 26,000-square-foot facility sits next to the existing Entrepreneurship building. It will now allow middle school and high school students to become credentialed in various career paths through hands-on learning.¶
EIC Facilities and Programs
The EIC spent five years in development and was funded by a $15.5 million Tennessee Department of Education Innovative School Models grant, as well as various partnerships with local companies. It features classrooms, meeting and community spaces, a culinary kitchen, and a grab-and-go cafeteria.¶
Webb told the board that the center now has an official enrollment of 400 students, just more than a week after opening. Applications were open for prospective students from December through February 10 of this year.¶
In a video covering the EIC’s grand opening that was posted to the Williamson County Schools YouTube page, Webb credited Governor Bill Lee with allocating funding to the grant, which made the center’s construction possible.¶
“One of the big things that happened through this (Innovative School Models) grant is that all the way from the governor's office to the Department of Education really challenged schools to think differently (and) think innovatively about your approach to education and how we prepare students not only for college and career readiness but (for) the world that awaits them,” Webb said.¶
The Innovation Center offers five programs for students to enroll in: Aviation, Advanced Power and Machinery, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, Fire Management Services, and Hospitality and Tourism. The center is partnering with Belmont University, Columbia State Community College, Middle Tennessee State University, and Tennessee Tech to offer dual enrollment credits as well.¶
The Aviation program, for example, allows students to earn up to 12 college credits by completing the program with help from MTSU. Williamson County will also provide bus transportation for students to get to the EIC from around 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. each day.¶
Webb said during the meeting that while all 400 current enrollees are high schoolers, middle school students will also visit via field trips, and elementary school students will also have opportunities to explore the center in the future.¶
“Many of those same 400 students will elect to take courses at our Entrepreneurship Center and learn to figure out how they can take their skilled trade and maybe have their own entrepreneurial spin on the skills that they're learning,” Webb said.¶
The goal is for students to leave with a portfolio of work they can lean on before beginning college or their career path.¶
Students can also use the Innovation Center to secure internships, including in the Hospitality and Tourism program.¶
“(We'll have) students in internships with (The Harpeth Franklin Downtown) Hotel, Halifax Properties, A. Marshall Hospitality, Chartwell Hospitality, and (Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q) as a part of that program,” Webb said.¶
