A look inside the Williamson County Schools Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center
Back to school looks a bit different for high school students enrolled in the Williamson County Schools Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (EIC). Opened in 2019, the EIC has a state-of-the-art facility with a podcast room, fabrication lab, meeting rooms, and an incubator-style environment and it offers a chance for students to grow in a nontraditional way, to experience real-world business situations. In the EIC, students gain real-world experience in entrepreneurship and innovation by crafting business plans, conducting market research, launching products or services and pitching for funding. Enrollment is determined through an application process that includes short answer questions, teacher recommendations, and an interview. The one common thread among all of the students of the EIC is that the students should have a drive or interest in offering a service, developing a product, starting a business, being an entrepreneur, or thinking outside of the box.
Attending the EIC gives students access to mentors, networking opportunities, and real-world business problems not typically offered in traditional high school classes. Through hands-on courses, students work in teams to identify a problem, develop and launch a business, and some even become vendors at local farmers’ markets like Nolensville and Westhaven.
Under the leadership of Executive Director Jeremy Qualls and Assistant Director Paula Chilton, the center has earned multiple awards and recognitions, including the 2021 Tennessee School Boards Association Program of the Year, the 2024 Advisors Award, and features in Forbes magazine. Qualls, known as the visionary of the program, focuses on business development by connecting with partners, donors, and mentors while studying similar programs to keep the WCS EIC among the best in the nation. Because private funding supports instructors and grant funding supports the building, the EIC is supported by both private and government sectors and is truly a community-based and community-supported venture. While Qualls spends time engaging the community about the EIC, he describes Chilton as “the difference maker of this place.”
As part of the opportunity to pitch their product or service for funding, students in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (EIC) can participate in the EIC Final Pitch Program. A strong performance at the local level can open doors to regional and national competitions—something rising senior Abigail Goddard has experienced firsthand. Abigail has been involved with the EIC throughout her high school career. In fact, she was one of the first middle school students to receive a “golden ticket” invitation to preview the program before officially enrolling as a freshman. While working on her “bug list,” Abigail recalled stories from college-aged family and friends who had shared concerns—and in some cases, the traumatic impact—of drink spiking in social settings. As she reflected on those stories, she realized, “In less than two years, that could be me.” From that realization, Spikey was born.
Spikey™ is more discreet and visually appealing than other products on the market. Other products are bulky, slow to show results, and awkward to use—which often leads to people not using them at all. Spikey, by contrast, is compact, quick, and designed to fit discreetly into social settings. It can be used in any type of drink to detect any amine-based date rape drugs. When asked the impact of Spikey to address drink spiking in social settings, Abigail describes Spikey as helping young people shift from “passive fear to proactive protection.”
While continuing to refine and promote her product through the EIC, Abigail has also participated in numerous competitions to raise awareness and funding. So far, she has raised over $40,000 through pitch competitions and earned more than $30,000 in sales. Her awards are numerous, including 1st place in the WCS EIC Final Pitch program, and most recently, just earlier this summer, capturing first place in the INCubatoredu® National Pitch Competition in Chicago earlier this year.
As Abigail prepares to begin her senior year and her final year in the EIC program, she hopes to continue growing Spikey as both a business and a mission. She plans to expand partnerships with college campuses, nonprofit organizations, and student ambassadors. Her long-term goal is to see Spikey handed out to students at every college and university across the country. And as the EIC prepares for the start of the school year in early August, lots of exciting developments are on the horizon. Through a partnership with local business Honest Coffee, EIC students will gain the experience of operating a full-functioning coffee shop business that will be located within the EIC. This partnership will also serve as an opportunity for EIC students to work alongside and support transition students.
Currently located in an annex building near Franklin High School, the EIC occupies a 10,000 square foot facility that houses both the entrepreneurship and innovation components of the program. But new construction is underway on a new facility that will more than double the space of the center and allow for separation of the entrepreneurship and innovation centers. The new Innovation Hub opening in Fall 2026 will offer programs in aviation flight, electrical power generation, heavy machine technology, hospitality and tourism management, fire management and cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
The EIC welcomes volunteers from the community to support the center in a variety of ways, including serving as business mentors. Come out on August 28th at 6pm to Harbor & Union to a Mentor Mixer to learn what it means to be a mentor of the EIC.
