Dr Jeff Cornwall

“Entrepreneurial Showcase” is a new feature of this site, in which we will take a closer look at some of the entrepreneurial ventures founded by Belmont alumni and students.

The first Belmont entrepreneur to be showcased is Charles Hagood (MBA, 1993) who with his partner Mike Brown, founded The Access Group (TAG) in 1996. TAG specializes in lean manufacturing consulting, plant relocation, engineering services, industrial engineering, architecture and design, and maintenance reliability services.
After completing an MBA in 1993, Charles Hagood was still working as an industrial engineer in the aerospace industry. He had just been promoted to program manager of his company’s largest project, the V-22 Osprey Aircraft, becoming the youngest program manager in the company’s history of a military program. But even with this success, Charles began to realize that he did not want to work for a company for the rest of his life. What he really wanted was to work for himself.
So Charles soon left his employer and began work on his business plan. Mike Brown, who had been his supervisor, shared a similar entrepreneurial aspiration and eventually joined Charles as a co-founder of TAG.
Obtaining the first client in a consulting business proved to be a significant challenge, as they had nothing tangible to show potential clients. During their initial start-up, they decided to save as much of their precious self-funded working capital as possible. They decided to work out of Mike’s basement and garage, with their PCs set up on folding tables they had purchased at Sam’s Club. Charles joked that “Mike’s Chihuahua became our Vice President of Security,” as he announced the arrival of each UPS, mail delivery or visitor to their “corporate headquarters.” Hagood added, “We were broke but were having a blast. We were never worried that we’d make it. The question was when.”
Over the next several years TAG did become a successful venture, expanding their services and growing their staff. They never gave up their bootstrapping mentality, focusing on organic growth with very little use of outside funding.
TAG was named a Music City Future 50 company in 2001 and 2003, Chamber Business of the Year, and ranked the 15th fastest growing company in the mid-south by Nashville Business Magazine during this time.
An important part of the mission of TAG for Charles and Mike, is to not only make their lives better through the success of the business, but the lives of those around them better by giving back. Church sponsored mission trips are a regular occurrence for TAG employees and their families. TAG pays for the expenses related to these church sponsored mission projects for all employees and in some cases their family members. TAG employees and family members have participated in three to four mission trips a year around the world, including Asia, Africa, and the Appalachian region of the U.S.
Charles is currently moving TAG beyond its traditional focus on manufacturing with the formation of an affiliate business Healthcare Performance Partners. This new company focuses on helping health care companies apply lean techniques to their work environments.