September 9th: Dr. Jon Rysewyk, Superintendent

Jon Rysweck, Knox County Schools Superintendent

Dr. Jon Rysewyk returns to visit the North Knoxville Business and Professional Association meeting on September 9th. While Rysewyk was principal at Fulton he was also a member of the NKBPA and we are looking forward to spending some time with him in September.

Rysewyk began his education career as a teaching intern at Bearden High School, and went on to serve as a science teacher, department head and assistant principal. In 2008, he was hired as Executive Principal at Fulton High School, at the same time that the school was being reconstituted by the State of Tennessee.

During his time as principal at Fulton, Dr. Rysewyk led the implementation of small learning communities, which were designed to foster a sense of belonging among students and improve academic performance. Graduation rates rose significantly during his tenure, and the school saw students from every testing group make “adequate yearly progress” according to state standards.

Dr. Rysewyk went on to serve as the district’s Supervisor of Secondary Education and Executive Director of Innovation and School Improvement, before being hired as the founding director of Emerald Academy. In 2017, he returned to Knox County Schools, where he served as assistant superintendent and chief academic officer.

In 2007, Dr. Rysewyk received the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. In 2010, he participated in the Leadership Knoxville program; was recognized by the Greater Knoxville Business Journal as part of its “40 Under 40” Class; and received the University of Tennessee’s William J. and Lucille H. Field Award for Excellence in Tennessee Secondary School Leadership.

Larry Cox and Homstead Inc. will be our breakfast sponsor this month. If you would like to sponsor a breakfast email Ethan Kirk ekirk@emeraldyouth.org.

We will be taking donations for VMC’s new Caswell Manor. See below.

Don’t forget it is almost time to elect the 2023-2024 Board members. We are taking nominations now. You must be a member and be able to commit to helping out for the next 2 years. We need good people who care about our local businesses and the community. If you are interested send an email to nkbpa.info at gmail.com

We are taking nominations for board positions.

These are the current Board Positions and their roles in the group:

Board of Directors Officer Positions:

President – Preside over both Board of Director and Membership meetings occurring monthly. A spokesperson for the NKBPA.

Vice President – Steps into the role of President when necessary and gives support to all activities of the Board of Directors.

Secretary – Records and maintains files of meeting minutes for monthly board meetings. Maintain a list of the current Board of Directors and send out reminders of scheduled meetings, sharing the agenda and financial report.

Treasurer – Charge, and custody of NKBPA funds.

Additional Positions and Roles:

Immediate Past President

Communications – Sends out newsletter and meeting invitations to the membership each month, updates website information, and creates an Eventbrite for registration and social media. Coordinate updates and information with the membership chair.

Membership – Keep a current list of NKBPA members and coordinate production of the Directory.

Fulton Liaison – Create monthly content for Fulton Radio and set up Business Spotlight recordings.

Programs – Coordinate monthly speakers and meeting locations.

Breakfast Sponsors – Recruit and compile a list of potential breakfast sponsors. Help with the delivery and set up of food and beverages. Collaborate with the Programs Chair.

Greeting Committee – Recruit a couple smiling faces to welcome folks each month. Arrive early to set up directional signs.

Fundraising and Events – Lead the efforts for proposed events and recruit the help of membership.

July 8: Nonprofit July

Calling our Non-profit members. We’re switching it up for the month of July. We want to spotlight our nonprofit members. We will have a series of short nonprofit member spotlights showcasing our community of those who pour their hearts into our city for the good of others. The first 15 nonprofits will get 3 minutes each to tell us why they do the work they do. So my nonprofit friends, submit your organization TODAY. Email NKBPA.info@gmail.com if you are interested in participating. YOU MUST BE AN NKBPA MEMBER.

Come learn about what they are doing and see if there is a place our members would like to get involved.

The meeting location is to be determined, but we will notify everyone as soon as we have that location.

Non-profits please arrive at 7:45am on JULY 8. The meeting will adjourn at 9am. SO NO GOING OVER YOUR 3-MINUTE TIME SLOT.

We are also looking for a breakfast sponsor this month. If you want to sponsor email Ethan Kirk ekirk@emeraldyouth.org.

ESPN’s Chris Low speaks at March 8th meeting

Enter at the back door of Emerald Youth Foundation

We hope to see you on March 8th at 7:45 am to hear ESPN.com’s Chris Low. The meeting will be at Emerald Youth Foundation at 1718 N. Central St. Knoxville.

Low joined ESPN.com in 2007 after 10 years with The (Nashville) Tennessean covering the University of Tennessee and SEC. The Rock Hill, S.C., native lives with his wife in Knoxville and has three sons. Low a sports blogger can be found on SportsNation at http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sec.

Thank you to Emerald Youth for hosting and breakfast is sponsored by the NKBPA Board this month. Be sure to thank them.

MEMBERSHIP DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED to MARCH 15th: Please remember it is time to renew your membership. Dues are $50 annually. People, that’s a deal. Where else can you get great networking, community involvement, and breakfast EVERY month for only $50 a year? Nowhere! Renew or join today, fill out your membership application here. Print it and mail it along with your check to NKBPA c/o MEMBERSHIP  P.O. Box 27479  Knoxville, TN 37927-7479. If you prefer to pay by credit card, we will be taking credit card payments at the meeting. 

You can also pay by credit card for your membership and ad if you register to attend the meeting on Eventbrite. 
Select a date and then under ticket type select BECOME A MEMBER or your ad size.  If you have questions, please contact nkbpa.info@gmail.com.

Note: If your organization has an event coming up, please bring flyers or information to be placed on the tables. This way our members have a tangible reminder and we can use it to publicize your events on social media. Thank you, this helps us to wrap up the meeting on time.

Keep Knoxville Beautiful Speaks at Emerald Ave UMC on February 8th

Emerald Ave
Emerald Avenue United Methodist Church.

We hope to see you on February 8th at 7:45 am to hear Keep Knoxville Beautiful’s Aleta Daniels speak.

Keep Knoxville Beautiful is focusing a large majority of their efforts in the North Knox area as “Community of the Year” and Aleta will tell us about that work at this meeting.

Lauren Rider will also speak briefly on ReCode Knoxville.

Pastor Tom Seay is our host and our breakfast sponsors will be Homestead and First Tennessee Bank. Be sure to thank them.

Please remember it is time to renew your membership. Dues are $50 annually. People, that’s a deal. Where else can you get great networking, community involvement, and breakfast EVERY month for only $50 a year? Nowhere! Renew or join today, fill out your membership application here. Print it and mail it along with your check to NKBPA c/o MEMBERSHIP  P.O. Box 27479  Knoxville, TN 37927-7479. If you prefer to pay by credit card, we will be taking credit card payments at the meeting. 

CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDERS. Invoices for dues have arrived in your email inboxes. If there is more than one representative for your company’s location who attends the meeting, they will all receive an invoice. Payment for membership is per company, per location. So if you get two invoices from two attending representatives for one business location, you need pay only once. If you have questions, please contact nkbpa.info@gmail.com.

Note: If your organization has an event coming up, please bring flyers or information to be placed on the tables. This way our members have a tangible reminder and we can use it to publicize your events on social media. Thank you, this helps us to wrap up the meeting on time.