The Essential Role of IT in Business with Brian Strong

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Welcome, everybody, to another episode of Connect the Knox.

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I'm your host, Julia Hurley, connecting Knoxville to the nation.

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Today with us is a gentleman that I did not know that I knew

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for a long time until we actually re met each other at an event.

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We'll get into that story in a minute.

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Brian Strong with 10 hats.

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And I'm going to let him explain all of this to you.

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It went way over my head, which means that he has gone way above

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and beyond our, our original training courses from Sandler Sales.

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Brian, thank you so much for being here with us today.

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Well, thanks, Julia, for having me.

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Yes, of course.

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So let's start with Knoxville.

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How did we end up in Knoxville?

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Tell us our history and roots of Knoxville, a little bit about

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your company after that, and then we'll just take it from there.

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All right.

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Yeah.

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So I was actually born in Dupuyt, Kentucky.

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My mom and dad moved from, dad started at Oak Ridge National Lab, before

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that moved to Paducah, and then, uh, we, I lived 4 years in California in

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5th, grade, and then moved here 4 days before I started here at high school.

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And so I've been here ever since.

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While I was in college, I was a finance major, started doing a little

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bit of a, um, financial planning and really decided that I didn't

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want the responsibility of picking stocks for people that would

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ultimately end up in their, Retirement being successful or the demise.

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So I just, I didn't want to watch the stock market every day.

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I got into, uh, sales.

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So it's kind of funny.

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My first sales job, I sold railroad material, actual

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rails, you know, spikes and turnouts and stuff like that.

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And then from there, well, went on to, uh, like telecom and then into IT.

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So I was kind of, you know, finding it kind of funny.

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From the same point of my career, I was, you know, Heavy industrial or some

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of the very first technologies, old technologies of just a railroad system

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and all the way up into, you know, kind of, um, leading edge technology.

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How inter So, this is one of those conversations that

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I have when people bring me something new that I don't

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It's an industry that obviously needs to sell things.

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You can put it in your head that obviously somebody has

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to do that job, but you never think somebody in Knoxville

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goes around and sells railroad equipment and ties.

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You just immediately somehow magically think that the old

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school Rockefeller family has their own little railroad

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existence place and that's where it all comes from.

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Oh yeah, that's exactly right.

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It was, uh, it was, it was fascinating.

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Uh, you know, we sold some new rail that we mainly sold used rail.

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That was the craziest thing.

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They would tear up old rail lines and then they

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would, you know, put it in different places.

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It was, it was fascinating.

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I liked it just because, you know, I like trains.

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I mean, what little boy doesn't like trains and stuff like that?

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So, you know, and I was, I was getting to live that as an, as an adult.

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So that was, that was fun.

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I traveled, I traveled all the time.

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I was in 17 states and a year and a half or something like that.

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That's

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amazing.

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So you left that industry and you came back home?

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Yeah.

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So I was here in Knoxville.

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It was actually called Unitrack at the time, and then I got into, uh, it was

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more in industrial sales, and I had a Sunday school teacher that I wanted to

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learn hardcore sales or whatnot, and he had a manager that was in the telecom.

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I didn't care what industry it was.

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It just happened to be in the telecom industry.

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And, uh, he was a very pivotal role in my career.

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His name was Jake Soudan.

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And, uh, he just taught me the diligence of cold

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calling and, you know, just getting out there.

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I mean, if you were in the office too long, he'd kick you out and, you know, it

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was just, uh, you know, the follow up and all these kinds of different things.

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And then, uh, from there, what was, uh, I was pretty successful

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and I got recruited to, uh, a technology firm, RM Technologies.

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Around 2005, you know, that's kind of where

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I got into the, you know, really IT business.

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That company became Claris Networks, and

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so I worked there for six and a half years.

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Um, that's actually where we met.

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I mean, you know, you know, um, a few years ago.

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I know this is a side story from our story.

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This morning we went to an event and there was another gentleman there

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standing there and as soon as I walked up to the table to pick up

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my name tag and I've been a member of this organization for going on

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now this is our third year and this is the first time I've seen him

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there and he goes Julia Hurley and I was like Sandler Sales Training.

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I knew that guy the minute I was like oh my god this

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was 25 years ago and I still when I saw you I was like

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we already know each other you know so it's so odd.

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It was not that long ago or at least let's lie and say it wasn't that long ago.

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It feels like it, friend.

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It does.

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Okay, that's true.

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I like that.

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That's too funny.

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So yeah, that's where we met.

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And then I left Claris in 2012, and I started a company, uh, called

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Vendor Registry, which was a, um, uh, we did a registration, um, platform.

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We help run purchasing departments for public entities, so cities,

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counties, local government, you know, all kinds of different

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local governments and we built that company, um, you know, for a

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number of years and we had 600 governments all across the country.

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Using that platform.

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Um, and it sold to, sold in 2020.

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Yeah.

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So we became the, we were the sixth largest, uh,

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registration system in the country for public procurement.

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We got bought by like number two and then they bought

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a couple other ones and they became number one.

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So it, it was really good success story that we have there.

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And, uh, even.

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Chris VanDeek, my partner at Vendor Registry, he

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still works for the company and still doing that.

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So, and then in, roughly in 2020, I did a short

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stint at RDI Technologies and then SH Data Tech.

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That's prior to 10 Habs.

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And there was a bunch of, uh, there were several CLRES folks that were there.

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They started recruiting me back in.

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They were just having some issues of scale and sales and marketing.

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The company was partially owned at the time by Covenant Health.

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And so they had a, we had a, 10, 000 foot datacenter.

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Here is the first datacenter built in this area in 20 years.

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They just needed, you know, some leadership and some

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guidance from the sales and marketing standpoint.

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I actually called them nodes again when I was just like, I'm not interested.

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Claris was, you know, for those people that are

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familiar with it, it was lightning in a bottle.

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We had, uh, it was just a great success, a great run.

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It was a lot of fun.

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And it's just like, could you rebuild that again?

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And lightning strike twice.

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Um, so.

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It took them a little bit to convince me, and so I did finally come over here.

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The company, one thing is that small businesses have trouble with,

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they get to a certain level, and then they can't grow past that.

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And so, through the experience of Claris, we

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were 2008 2009, when the economy hit the skids.

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We went from, I think it was like, 55, 60 employees down

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to like 23 in like 90, 120 days, something like that.

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I mean, it was all our projects dried up and Larry Bodie was the CEO at the

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time and he goes, hey, you know, that was a time too when You lost your job.

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You couldn't find one.

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I mean, it was, it was terrible.

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We were bleeding learning and just Larry and the leadership, like,

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and I really rallied the team goes, hey, you guys are all handpicked,

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you know, we're going to have to change our process procedures,

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you know, we're going to have to do a bunch of different things.

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But if you guys just stick with me.

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You know, we can grow.

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We can get out of this.

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We have the customer base.

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We have the cash flow.

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We just got to, we just got to be better at

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what we do and efficient with fewer people.

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And so going through that experience really led us to a different plateau

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and, you know, even beyond what we actually want to do here at Synapse.

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But you know, they became one of the top 10 largest MSDs.

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in the country when they sold.

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You know, that experience helped me over here at Tin Hats to really break

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through that barrier of the small business, really, you know, Covenant

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was really good about letting me recruit my team and put those people

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in place that we could build an organization to scale and to grow and

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Over the last three years, we've actually grown by like 500 percent.

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Ryan, you're killing it down there in Knoxville.

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We're doing, you know, we're doing very well.

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And, uh, you know, we always have room to grow.

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And, uh, you know, we're, you know, the one

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thing about us is that we're never content.

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Where we are today is not where we're going to be tomorrow.

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And we're always, you know, progressing forward.

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So, um, you know, to get better and better, you just, you know, every

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company's got its problems and, you know, we get them all fixed.

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I mean, our, you know, what we say is our goal is for our clients is

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that, you know, uh, uh, Our goal is for them to never call with an issue.

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Um, is that achievable?

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Probably not.

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But every, every time we strive to get a little bit closer to

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that, our ticket count goes down, the reliability goes up, you

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know, it's a symbiotic relationship where it's good for the

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client, it's good for the company, and we all can win together.

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Over my head.

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It's not a, it's not an industry I'm actually familiar with in

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any capacity at all outside of The generalization of it, and I'm

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going to bet the people listening to this podcast are considering

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relocating to the market, possibly employment in the market.

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Explain it.

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Yeah, so basically what, uh, TenHat is two

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different companies kind of rolled up into one.

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We actually have a data center where we house servers.

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And so we have lots of internet connectivity.

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We have a lot of redundancy in here.

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So if the power goes out, we've got generator backup and UPS and all that stuff.

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If you have an industry moving into town, it's a very unique asset.

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It's one of the 16 major assets that a

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community needs is like good IT infrastructure.

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And so that's what we provide for, um, you know,

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larger companies to be able to house their servers.

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Also, um, on the MSP side, we're an IT firm, consulting firm.

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So we'll, people can, so the 10 hats is, it's emblematic, right?

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So if, you know, if you're a small business, you know, IT usually rolls up to

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somebody in accounting and finance, and they're wearing multiple hats, right?

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You know, trying to juggle all the different

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things that happens in a small business, right?

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And so for us, we can take on that IT hat, and you can outsource your IT

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to us, and we'll, we have helpdesk, we can help with all the equipment,

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make sure your email runs, backups, and all those kind of different things.

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And if you're a larger company, Uh, the way we look at it, too,

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is that you may have, you may have an IT staff, and they're

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proficient at, like, six of the ten different functions of IT.

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But we can come along beside them and take those other four

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to help the company be, you know, successful and well rounded.

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We partner with, um, a lot of, uh, larger

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companies here in town that have IT staff.

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Half of our customers, Have IT staff, you know, right now.

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They could have one to, we have one that has a couple dozen.

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Yeah, so it's kind of, we kind of fit in that niche,

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kind of wherever, kind of morphed to whatever we need.

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So that's really interesting.

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Genuinely, because I'm a business owner, and I've been a

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business recruiter, and I've worked with Chambers, I still

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don't even know the 16 things that companies truly look for.

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Knoxville is just so well suited for everything, but I would assume

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that being the technology corridor, As we are at this point in our, our

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tenure as Knoxville, that is something that would be high on that list,

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especially now that we have Amazon and things along that nature that

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really, really, really need their IT department come heck or high water.

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It's gotta be up.

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It's gotta be running.

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The information's gotta be there.

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The servers have to run.

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How big is your facility and do you have plans to keep growing that?

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Yeah.

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So, I mean, basically our facility is, uh, 10, 000 square

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00:11:50,989 --> 00:11:55,110
feet, so we can hold roughly 400 racks of equipment.

238
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We have, you know, in the data center world, it's really the amount of power.

239
00:11:59,410 --> 00:12:00,439
It's, it's interesting.

240
00:12:00,449 --> 00:12:01,959
It's the amount of power you can pull into the

241
00:12:01,959 --> 00:12:06,950
facility as AI comes on the scene a lot more.

242
00:12:07,275 --> 00:12:12,935
Those servers that do AI actually consume a lot more power than your traditional

243
00:12:12,995 --> 00:12:16,995
servers that we, you know, use for running disturb scene or business operations.

244
00:12:17,154 --> 00:12:21,474
So we had two 10 megawatt feeds from both sides.

245
00:12:21,484 --> 00:12:24,584
So we had, we're actually in two different power grids, but, you know, two

246
00:12:24,585 --> 00:12:28,510
different substations that are, Powered by two different sets of power plants.

247
00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:29,800
It's pretty unique.

248
00:12:29,820 --> 00:12:33,190
So yeah, I mean, we can, we could expand if we, we needed to the

249
00:12:33,190 --> 00:12:36,890
footprint of like the floor space, but the biggest limiting factor

250
00:12:36,890 --> 00:12:41,120
of any data center is the power it can deliver to the floor.

251
00:12:41,450 --> 00:12:45,619
We all know that real estate is location, location, location.

252
00:12:46,265 --> 00:12:50,195
Our team at Just Homes Group has the true expertise,

253
00:12:50,555 --> 00:12:53,715
pairing buyers and sellers with the right opportunities.

254
00:12:54,805 --> 00:12:57,944
Whether you're looking to buy or sell a home right here

255
00:12:57,944 --> 00:13:03,785
in Knoxville, Lenoir City, Clinton, or Farragut, we have

256
00:13:03,794 --> 00:13:07,095
the expertise throughout every Knoxville surrounding area.

257
00:13:08,175 --> 00:13:10,005
Call Just Homes Group today.

258
00:13:11,235 --> 00:13:14,385
So I remember one of my very first real estate deals, uh, was a

259
00:13:14,385 --> 00:13:17,625
purchase for Lenore City Utility Board for a substation off North Shore.

260
00:13:17,715 --> 00:13:20,425
And I remember they had rolling blackouts during that time.

261
00:13:20,745 --> 00:13:25,295
It was either during the construction of, or right after the construction

262
00:13:25,295 --> 00:13:27,685
of, the Target Shopping Center, and I remember this happening.

263
00:13:28,215 --> 00:13:32,985
Just this entire power grid meltdown of making sure that as

264
00:13:32,985 --> 00:13:36,615
we continue to grow, there are substations to get electricity

265
00:13:36,744 --> 00:13:39,505
and being as where we are, you know, lucky that we have TVA

266
00:13:39,505 --> 00:13:41,935
and all the things that we have that bring in our electricity.

267
00:13:41,935 --> 00:13:44,415
We create a large amount of our own electricity.

268
00:13:44,635 --> 00:13:46,995
Where do you see that entire industry going?

269
00:13:47,105 --> 00:13:50,535
Because I have the feeling that it's going to, you're going to need to continue

270
00:13:50,535 --> 00:13:54,155
to grow as Knoxville continues to grow and brings these larger industries in.

271
00:13:54,385 --> 00:13:56,005
And you'll need more power.

272
00:13:56,115 --> 00:13:59,055
Where is this, is there like a conjuncture with TVA?

273
00:13:59,495 --> 00:14:01,515
Is it a conjunction with Visit Knoxville, The Chamber?

274
00:14:01,515 --> 00:14:02,725
How does that all work for you?

275
00:14:03,045 --> 00:14:05,905
So that, I mean, that's a big challenge in our industry today.

276
00:14:05,905 --> 00:14:08,704
I keep talking, this is a subject that keeps coming up.

277
00:14:08,874 --> 00:14:13,405
Power is going to be a limited resource as we move forward.

278
00:14:13,955 --> 00:14:17,560
You know, I mean, I don't, Blame TVA or anything like that.

279
00:14:17,569 --> 00:14:20,810
It's, you know, the forecast of AI that those

280
00:14:20,810 --> 00:14:24,720
servers are consuming four times the amount of power.

281
00:14:24,769 --> 00:14:27,160
There's an estimation over the next two to three years.

282
00:14:27,660 --> 00:14:31,130
That, you know, data centers will consume a 3rd of the power in the world.

283
00:14:31,380 --> 00:14:35,710
And so it's, you know, from a, you know, and when TVA is, you know, or.

284
00:14:36,050 --> 00:14:38,819
A B or any of these, well, it's really TVA doing the power plants.

285
00:14:39,209 --> 00:14:41,370
I mean, they're looking at it at a 10 to 20 year

286
00:14:41,380 --> 00:14:46,430
horizon to build a facility it takes, right?

287
00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,900
And then all the regulations and, uh, you know, I mean, from the

288
00:14:49,900 --> 00:14:55,089
political standpoint, you know, there are pressures to be more green

289
00:14:55,299 --> 00:15:00,459
from that standpoint, but the demand of power is exceeding what those

290
00:15:00,709 --> 00:15:04,049
capacities, you know, what those technologies can do at this point.

291
00:15:04,069 --> 00:15:06,859
So we get funny, like, and then we also have.

292
00:15:07,444 --> 00:15:09,795
EVs that are coming on to the scene too, and

293
00:15:09,795 --> 00:15:13,015
they're consuming a lot of, um, power as well.

294
00:15:13,015 --> 00:15:16,995
So we're, it's a, it's a really interesting time where the

295
00:15:17,204 --> 00:15:20,914
regulations are coming down to make it cleaner, which I agree.

296
00:15:21,165 --> 00:15:22,915
I mean, I don't disagree with any of this.

297
00:15:23,085 --> 00:15:26,284
You know, I mean, we want a healthy earth from the standpoint, but

298
00:15:26,564 --> 00:15:30,835
the power demands are increasing and the regulations are squeezing.

299
00:15:30,835 --> 00:15:34,504
So, I mean, it's, Our companies have a, um, um, they're

300
00:15:34,504 --> 00:15:39,160
walking like a tightrope from trying to, uh, fit in millions.

301
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,150
We have, I was talking to a, you know, industry expert, um,

302
00:15:42,409 --> 00:15:45,489
uh, a couple months ago, and they were talking to a data

303
00:15:45,489 --> 00:15:50,000
center operator that went out of one, uh, gigawatt data center.

304
00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:55,180
So on the, if you want to put it in perspective, like in, uh, January

305
00:15:55,180 --> 00:15:59,355
of this year, you know, when we had all the snowstorm, CDA on their

306
00:15:59,415 --> 00:16:05,895
whole entire grid at a high, and it was 34 and some change gigawatts.

307
00:16:06,244 --> 00:16:09,564
So you're thinking about one data center, you know, that has a footprint

308
00:16:09,564 --> 00:16:14,694
of a few hundred thousand square feet is going to take up one of those 35?

309
00:16:14,695 --> 00:16:15,164
That's, that's crazy.

310
00:16:15,415 --> 00:16:16,115
It's insane.

311
00:16:16,245 --> 00:16:20,155
I mean, that's just not, I don't know how, it's, the technology's got to evolve.

312
00:16:20,165 --> 00:16:21,915
Something's got to give at some point.

313
00:16:22,115 --> 00:16:26,365
I have this conversation often with, again, relocations mostly, where

314
00:16:26,365 --> 00:16:29,545
they come from somewhere else and they don't, uh, things are just

315
00:16:29,574 --> 00:16:32,165
different in different places, and Knoxville's one of those places

316
00:16:32,165 --> 00:16:35,584
where we're very familiar with coal, we're familiar with water power,

317
00:16:35,584 --> 00:16:39,495
we're familiar with how to generate electricity because we live in it.

318
00:16:39,750 --> 00:16:43,660
Like we drive past a coal power plant every day and we have nuclear.

319
00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:47,650
I think nuclear is going to be the next, uh, not that it hasn't been popular.

320
00:16:47,650 --> 00:16:50,250
I think there's always a stipulation or whatever.

321
00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:51,560
Um, you know what I'm trying to say.

322
00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:54,740
There's some kind of negativity associated with nuclear power.

323
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,070
However, I understand that the governor's next initiative for the state

324
00:16:58,070 --> 00:17:03,305
of Tennessee is to become The Nuclear Center for Power by the end of 2030.

325
00:17:03,315 --> 00:17:05,454
And I think that initiative has already been put into place.

326
00:17:05,575 --> 00:17:08,004
I think that nuclear energy is going to be one

327
00:17:08,004 --> 00:17:11,815
of the only methods of clean energy left to do.

328
00:17:11,815 --> 00:17:13,724
We can only create so many dams.

329
00:17:13,724 --> 00:17:15,384
We can only run so much water.

330
00:17:15,395 --> 00:17:17,254
We can only burn so much coal.

331
00:17:17,470 --> 00:17:19,240
Heck, we can only dig so much coal.

332
00:17:19,410 --> 00:17:22,610
But I think a lot of people really don't understand where our electricity

333
00:17:22,610 --> 00:17:26,569
comes from and how difficult it truly is to manufacture and at the

334
00:17:26,569 --> 00:17:29,599
levels to keep it as affordable as we have continued to keep it.

335
00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:30,570
No, 100%.

336
00:17:30,570 --> 00:17:34,265
I mean, I think nuclear is, um, you know, is It's a

337
00:17:34,265 --> 00:17:37,355
sustainable, clean, you know, it's a whole lot more.

338
00:17:37,585 --> 00:17:40,725
I mean, there are, there is a stigma from, you know, some of the disasters

339
00:17:40,725 --> 00:17:44,235
back in the, you know, many, many years ago, but that, you know, that

340
00:17:44,485 --> 00:17:48,025
technology and everything, the advancements have grown to make it a lot safer.

341
00:17:48,025 --> 00:17:52,705
I mean, I think France is something like 85 percent plus all nuclear.

342
00:17:52,705 --> 00:17:57,054
I mean, they're very green, friendly, you know, country.

343
00:17:57,054 --> 00:17:57,655
So, I mean, it's.

344
00:17:58,170 --> 00:18:01,250
There's places all around the world that use a whole lot more than we do,

345
00:18:01,270 --> 00:18:04,740
and I think that's a, for me, I think that's a, it's a good path forward.

346
00:18:04,940 --> 00:18:05,650
Yeah, I agree.

347
00:18:05,650 --> 00:18:06,810
I think we're going to see a lot of it.

348
00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:08,670
I think that's definitely going to be something that

349
00:18:08,670 --> 00:18:12,319
you, you and people in your, I mean, you own the company.

350
00:18:12,319 --> 00:18:14,230
I think you're really going to be the forefront of

351
00:18:14,230 --> 00:18:16,610
making those connections, especially with with the new

352
00:18:16,610 --> 00:18:20,740
UT, very specifically geared toward nuclear engineering.

353
00:18:21,015 --> 00:18:23,475
I think there's a reason that Knoxville is going that way.

354
00:18:23,475 --> 00:18:27,755
I feel like that Knoxville wants to be a tech hub, wants to be an energy hub.

355
00:18:28,065 --> 00:18:31,685
And you are, you're literally already in the, in the middle of it.

356
00:18:31,685 --> 00:18:34,984
I can see in the background of your office here, you're

357
00:18:34,995 --> 00:18:38,084
literally in the middle of the growth of Knoxville.

358
00:18:38,084 --> 00:18:40,025
There's a, there's a crane in your window.

359
00:18:40,615 --> 00:18:40,855
Yeah.

360
00:18:40,855 --> 00:18:45,055
We're at the ballpark is being built like right in our back door.

361
00:18:45,055 --> 00:18:47,035
So yeah, the new Smokies stadium.

362
00:18:47,275 --> 00:18:48,295
Yeah, it looks good.

363
00:18:48,565 --> 00:18:50,325
And then on the IT side of it, too, is like

364
00:18:50,325 --> 00:18:52,415
what we're trying to help is businesses.

365
00:18:52,854 --> 00:18:56,544
You know, use technology to, you know, thrive and grow, you

366
00:18:56,544 --> 00:18:59,554
know, it's, it's one of those where in the past technology

367
00:18:59,554 --> 00:19:02,594
was just kind of one of those things that you had to have.

368
00:19:02,594 --> 00:19:06,624
It was kind of a necessary evil where, you know, today's time,

369
00:19:06,774 --> 00:19:10,444
you know, technology is becoming essential and it's a, you know,

370
00:19:10,444 --> 00:19:13,664
it's becoming a competitive advantage on how you use your data.

371
00:19:13,874 --> 00:19:18,804
Um, also, uh, you, you think about this, I mean, I kind of say we're all,

372
00:19:18,924 --> 00:19:22,424
uh, we all run technology companies, they just happen to be in different.

373
00:19:22,715 --> 00:19:23,314
Industry.

374
00:19:23,314 --> 00:19:27,735
So if you think about if you took the technology out of your industry, real

375
00:19:27,735 --> 00:19:31,514
estate, you know, I mean, how could you know, how could you do your business

376
00:19:31,534 --> 00:19:36,145
without, you know, really the NLS printed on paper and stuff like that?

377
00:19:36,145 --> 00:19:39,654
I mean, it would mean it would drastically reduce.

378
00:19:40,035 --> 00:19:41,515
You're a competitive advantage, right?

379
00:19:41,535 --> 00:19:42,575
How do you use social media?

380
00:19:42,575 --> 00:19:43,545
How are we doing this podcast?

381
00:19:43,545 --> 00:19:48,064
I mean, all these different things on how we, uh, advance our businesses,

382
00:19:48,284 --> 00:19:53,614
really tech companies doing, you know, this certain, you know, business aspect.

383
00:19:53,724 --> 00:19:54,014
Yeah.

384
00:19:54,014 --> 00:19:56,894
I think that technology is going to continue to thrive and change.

385
00:19:57,014 --> 00:20:01,314
I see the future of Knoxville being, I believe this, truly

386
00:20:01,314 --> 00:20:04,274
believe we are literally just starting our growth path.

387
00:20:04,500 --> 00:20:06,689
And I think that businesses like yours are

388
00:20:06,689 --> 00:20:08,780
going to continue to want to be in Knoxville.

389
00:20:08,790 --> 00:20:10,530
I feel like since you already have an established

390
00:20:10,530 --> 00:20:13,830
business in Knoxville, that you will have a leg up on that

391
00:20:13,830 --> 00:20:17,150
conversation and those doors to be open for you as you grow.

392
00:20:17,150 --> 00:20:18,970
I know a lot of people that listen to this podcast

393
00:20:18,999 --> 00:20:22,080
are looking for career changes as they move here.

394
00:20:22,340 --> 00:20:25,620
They are talking with us about, hey, we want to be able to work from home.

395
00:20:25,930 --> 00:20:27,770
We need information.

396
00:20:27,780 --> 00:20:29,990
We need, uh, server farms.

397
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,280
We need people to house our information for our large corporations.

398
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,240
I know the Chamber is constantly recruiting for large companies

399
00:20:36,250 --> 00:20:39,190
to come here, and they can't do that without companies like yours.

400
00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:42,490
So even having, having that in our backyard instead of,

401
00:20:42,670 --> 00:20:45,370
plus in Chattanooga or in Nashville and having to rent that

402
00:20:45,370 --> 00:20:48,110
space, having it here locally makes a massive difference.

403
00:20:48,670 --> 00:20:50,280
in the ability for growth.

404
00:20:50,310 --> 00:20:52,800
And I don't know if people really understand that connection.

405
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,100
So thank you for sharing that today.

406
00:20:55,250 --> 00:20:58,020
Um, oddly enough, we've nearly hit our time.

407
00:20:58,290 --> 00:21:01,910
I can talk to you all day about technology and power and how that works.

408
00:21:01,980 --> 00:21:05,299
It's, um, being, you know, a politician for a decade,

409
00:21:05,949 --> 00:21:08,790
energy has always been on, on the conversation.

410
00:21:08,790 --> 00:21:11,780
So I've seen a lot of growth and change in Knoxville,

411
00:21:12,060 --> 00:21:14,840
uh, with the right people in place, we are going places.

412
00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:16,990
And I feel like you're definitely in that place.

413
00:21:17,410 --> 00:21:18,980
And we appreciate you being here.

414
00:21:19,310 --> 00:21:22,170
And I want to take a minute for fire round.

415
00:21:22,290 --> 00:21:23,340
All right, favorite restaurant.

416
00:21:23,350 --> 00:21:24,560
We were talking about this the other day.

417
00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,499
There's so many awesome ones in here in Knoxville like right now.

418
00:21:27,530 --> 00:21:30,170
So, I'm gonna say, uh, Keffy.

419
00:21:30,230 --> 00:21:32,109
Keffy is your favorite restaurant.

420
00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,990
You know, they just did an update on the interior design in there.

421
00:21:34,990 --> 00:21:36,414
They posted it on their Insta.

422
00:21:36,534 --> 00:21:37,254
Oh, did they really?

423
00:21:37,254 --> 00:21:37,405
Oh

424
00:21:37,405 --> 00:21:37,615
yeah.

425
00:21:37,615 --> 00:21:38,365
It looks really good.

426
00:21:38,365 --> 00:21:40,014
It looks really, really classy.

427
00:21:40,225 --> 00:21:40,645
Love it.

428
00:21:40,764 --> 00:21:42,415
Very, very happy about Keppe.

429
00:21:42,415 --> 00:21:43,645
I really like that red.

430
00:21:43,645 --> 00:21:45,655
What he's doing too, over Chay Holloway.

431
00:21:45,655 --> 00:21:47,695
I mean, like, there's so many good ones.

432
00:21:47,695 --> 00:21:50,065
I mean, it's like I'm not knocking all the ones out there.

433
00:21:50,065 --> 00:21:50,995
I mean, I love 'em all.

434
00:21:51,835 --> 00:21:52,495
Oh, Oliver.

435
00:21:52,495 --> 00:21:52,915
Yes.

436
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:53,090
Oliver.

437
00:21:53,250 --> 00:21:54,264
I love Oliver.

438
00:21:54,595 --> 00:21:56,305
I know you tried to explain it to me.

439
00:21:56,455 --> 00:21:57,415
It's, it's really interesting.

440
00:21:57,415 --> 00:22:00,024
People will ask me all the time, Hey, uh, I'm new to town.

441
00:22:00,024 --> 00:22:00,955
Where would you recommend that?

442
00:22:00,955 --> 00:22:04,045
I go and I immediately say, please go to Oliver Royale.

443
00:22:04,045 --> 00:22:04,735
Sit on the patio.

444
00:22:05,015 --> 00:22:06,315
Best cheese plate in Knoxville.

445
00:22:06,525 --> 00:22:08,925
Best cheese, you can get a couple of cocktails, a cheese plate,

446
00:22:08,925 --> 00:22:12,915
enjoy yourself, beautiful scenery, great location, and amazing food.

447
00:22:13,115 --> 00:22:14,174
Always a win for me.

448
00:22:14,265 --> 00:22:14,995
Always a win.

449
00:22:15,345 --> 00:22:17,825
Uh, favorite pub or brewery?

450
00:22:17,954 --> 00:22:19,605
Man, we are big cocktail people.

451
00:22:19,655 --> 00:22:22,645
Harvest has some amazing cocktails.

452
00:22:23,005 --> 00:22:24,584
I mean, amazing cocktails.

453
00:22:24,585 --> 00:22:26,625
The last time I was at Harvest, I needed one.

454
00:22:26,995 --> 00:22:27,915
I was like, maybe half.

455
00:22:28,365 --> 00:22:29,535
I think I'm good.

456
00:22:29,605 --> 00:22:31,085
I will not be ordering a second.

457
00:22:31,364 --> 00:22:32,575
They pour them strong.

458
00:22:32,785 --> 00:22:33,305
They do.

459
00:22:33,565 --> 00:22:35,354
I mean, they have some really good stuff.

460
00:22:35,605 --> 00:22:37,145
I mean, the Maple Room.

461
00:22:37,154 --> 00:22:40,315
The Maple Room has probably my favorite Old Fashioned in town.

462
00:22:40,464 --> 00:22:41,574
I mean, it is just amazing.

463
00:22:41,815 --> 00:22:44,504
I mean, they use pure maple syrup in there.

464
00:22:44,685 --> 00:22:45,405
It is so good.

465
00:22:45,645 --> 00:22:47,145
So it reminds me of our trip to Vermont.

466
00:22:47,155 --> 00:22:48,475
Everything, everything, I mean, if it didn't

467
00:22:48,475 --> 00:22:49,865
have maple syrup in it, I was shocked.

468
00:22:49,985 --> 00:22:50,995
It was delicious.

469
00:22:50,995 --> 00:22:53,294
Everything was delicious.

470
00:22:53,475 --> 00:22:54,945
Alright, favorite gas station?

471
00:22:55,084 --> 00:22:57,644
Um, uh, um, Ryan's.

472
00:22:57,645 --> 00:22:59,749
I mean, you know, you have to go to the local gas station.

473
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,760
Do you have a favorite gas station location?

474
00:23:02,970 --> 00:23:05,090
I have found that this, it matters to me.

475
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,410
Well, yeah, I mean, I live in Westfield, so there's one right outside

476
00:23:08,420 --> 00:23:12,230
on Wesley that you'll see me dropping by at least once a week, you know.

477
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,920
Yeah, I actually drive from my office on South Peters

478
00:23:14,990 --> 00:23:17,600
all the way down, just so I can get to a Weigel's.

479
00:23:17,815 --> 00:23:19,095
It is very preferable.

480
00:23:19,185 --> 00:23:21,985
Yeah, I hope the Weigel family tunes into my podcast.

481
00:23:22,035 --> 00:23:24,875
I am pretty positive we talk about Weigels on every episode.

482
00:23:24,875 --> 00:23:26,784
I'm going to send them every episode and say, listen

483
00:23:26,785 --> 00:23:30,234
friends, you need to know you're on my podcast.

484
00:23:30,445 --> 00:23:30,985
That's right.

485
00:23:30,985 --> 00:23:31,355
Yeah.

486
00:23:31,705 --> 00:23:32,514
Everybody loves Weigel.

487
00:23:33,195 --> 00:23:34,425
Yeah, coffee's good.

488
00:23:34,425 --> 00:23:35,294
Everything's good.

489
00:23:35,294 --> 00:23:36,355
Everything is good there.

490
00:23:36,425 --> 00:23:38,105
All right, my friend, listen, I'm going to let you go.

491
00:23:38,295 --> 00:23:39,755
I really appreciate you.

492
00:23:39,795 --> 00:23:43,125
Let everybody know where they can find your business if they need your business.

493
00:23:43,125 --> 00:23:45,425
It's very intricate and important that we know where to find.

494
00:23:45,705 --> 00:23:47,205
Yes, it's tenhats.

495
00:23:47,235 --> 00:23:53,185
com, T E N H A T A S dot com, or you can email me directly.

496
00:23:53,185 --> 00:23:53,735
It's brian.

497
00:23:53,985 --> 00:23:55,075
strong at tenhats.

498
00:23:55,075 --> 00:23:55,405
com.

499
00:23:55,515 --> 00:23:57,835
It is such a pleasure to catch up with you.

500
00:23:57,865 --> 00:23:59,775
I hope to see you at an AGC meeting soon.

501
00:24:00,265 --> 00:24:01,905
Yes, as many as I can.

502
00:24:01,995 --> 00:24:03,307
Absolutely, you too.

503
00:24:03,307 --> 00:24:05,494
I look forward to it.

504
00:24:05,495 --> 00:24:09,135
everybody for tuning in to another episode of Connect the Knox.

505
00:24:09,135 --> 00:24:12,274
I'm Julia Hurley, Connecting Knoxville to the Nation.

506
00:24:12,424 --> 00:24:13,304
Until next time.

507
00:24:13,714 --> 00:24:15,435
Thank you for tuning into the show.

508
00:24:15,774 --> 00:24:19,174
Make sure to like and subscribe, leave a five star review

509
00:24:19,175 --> 00:24:22,125
on your podcast player of choice, and if you would like

510
00:24:22,125 --> 00:24:25,885
information on moving to Knoxville, send me a private message.

511
00:24:26,114 --> 00:24:30,175
As always, this is Julia Hurley, Connecting Knoxville to the Nation.