Guest post by Alison C. Lynch, director, entrepreneurial growth & engagement, Nashville Area Chamber

As many of you already know, I am fairly new to the Chamber. What you may not know is that I am also fairly new to Nashville. I arrived in Middle Tennessee about a year ago, after 20 years as a tech entrepreneur and angel investor in the DC Metro region. And the one question I received REPEATEDLY -- as I sold my house, kissed my family good-bye and prepared to move -- was "Nashville?! Are you a musician?" What many people didn't realize was that I had fallen in love with Music City three years prior and have kept my eyes on, and heart in, this town ever since.

What made me fall in love?
1) Nashville has a thriving and diverse entrepreneurial scene.
2) Twenty-three percent of our region's workforce is self-employed -- which means we are a highly motivated and energetic group.
3) Creativity and collaboration -- they're everywhere in Nashville!

Now, the most common question I get is, "So, is Nashville everything you thought it would be?" And the truth is -- it's even BETTER!

Our town is a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity, and the momentum keeps growing. With a progressive Chamber, a business-friendly government and highly engaged entrepreneurs, the sky's the limit. I'll give you a few examples:

Google Day -- the first of its kind anywhere in the country -- was held in Nashville April 19. Flo {thinkery}, in partnership with the Chamber, Entrepreneur Center, Technology Council and the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, orchestrated this whirlwind day of sessions focused on sharing and publicizing content and using analytics to grow your web presence. This event, which is now being replicated in other cities, trended fifth on Twitter for the duration of the day, and the buzz continues. Even the Googlers wrote about our fair city in their official blog, saying: "Nashville's start-up scene ... [is] bursting with energy and creativity like the rest of the city."

Last week, I attended the Governor's Innovation Conference -- two days of national speakers (including our friends at StartUp America and SelectUSA, a U.S. Department of Commerce initiative) talking about Tennessee's role as a model for entrepreneurial support and as an economic leader (our unemployment rate is significantly lower than the national average). Entrepreneurs had a chance to pitch to prospective investors, industry experts were on hand to share their experiences and plans for business in entertainment and technology, and Gov. Haslam shared his vision for the state's job growth.

Techville, JumpStart Foundry, Building the Investable Story learning series, StartUp Tennessee, the Propel series and Belmont's sponsorship of Dan Heath from the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship -- all of these are awesome and unique resources for our entrepreneurial community. There is no denying that Nashville is a center for innovation. And I am thrilled to be a part of it.