Jesse Smith

Serves on the Industrial and Economic Development Partnership team at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Jesse has served on the Industrial and Economic Development Partnership team at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for the past six years. Jesse’s responsibilities include working closely with industrial partners interested in collaborating with ORNL and supporting regional economic development efforts.

Prior to joining ORNL, Jesse served as the Director of Technology at the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley, where he helped both existing and prospective companies understand how to capitalize on the region’s unique technology resources. He also worked in Economic Development at the Mississippi Power Company, in Business Development at Dickten Masch Plastics, and as the Manager of Marketing and Economic Development at the Mississippi Polymer Institute. Most notably, Jesse is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps where he worked in confidential communications and navigations systems.

Jesse is well respected as a polymer scientist and an economic development professional at ORNL and throughout the region. Jesse holds a B.S. in Polymer Science and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. He and his wife reside in the Knoxville area with their three children.