Meet Steve A. Wilbur:
the Knoxville Global Heritage Initiative
Project Manager.
The role of Project Manager of the Knoxville Global Heritage Initiative is filled by Steve Wilbur.
The Institute for Natural Philosophy is honored to have Steve working in all his roles within the Institute for Natural Philosophy and excited to see him in his new role as project manager for the Knoxville Global Heritage Initiative. Steve is a founding trustee of the Institute for Natural Philosophy and was instrumental in its creation and becoming an official 501(c)(3).
Steve’s role as Project Manager for the Knoxville Global Heritage Initiative embeds him in all aspects of the projects. He will work closely with and oversee the key members of the effort, act as the public spokesperson for it, and serve as the main conduit both publicly and privately.
Steve has always had a personal interest in the history of our world, with a special focus in ancient world history and the history of world religion, and is currently undertaking several deep diving personal research projects in these subjects which he plans to publish.
He was actively trying to create an international network of individuals interested in performing global research when the Institute for Natural Philosophy had their initial public launch before officially forming. He was immediately drawn towards their mission and reached out to become involved. He was graciously welcomed in and as he got more involved with the founders of the idea it became apparent that he could provide assistance in many areas. This led to him performing a multiple pronged research effort that resulted in the legal formation of the Institute for Natural Philosophy as a nonprofit corporation in Tennessee USA and the subsequent official 501(c)(3) status from the IRS. Steve is actively involved in many areas and now is also undertaking the role of Project Manager of the Knoxville Global Heritage Initiative for the Institute for Natural Philosophy.
Steve’s roles within the Institute for Natural Philosophy
Founding Trustee and Board Vice Chair
Executive Board Member
Director of Operations
Registered Agent
Knoxville Global Heritage Initiative Project Manager
Friends of the Institute for Natural Philosophy International Indigenous Peoples and Tribes Cultural Center Project Co-Chair
Friends of the Institute for Natural Philosophy International Cultural Center Project Co-Chair
Institute for Natural Philosophy Educational & Cultural Centers Gala Launches & Public Events Committee Co-Chair
Grant Research Committee Member
Libraries, Museums, and Educational Centers Oversight Committee Member
Learn more about the Institute for Natural Philosophy here.
Background
Steve Wilbur was born in 1969 in Iowa, graduated high school in 1987, and turned down a college scholarship to enlist in the United States Navy. Steve is dedicated to his better half Regina, whom he has been with for over 15 years. He has been a resident of east Tennessee for more than half of his life.
Steve has always had an analytical mind. In the eighth grade he spent a summer cataloging the number, types, colors and travel direction of vehicles driving on his road. After serving in the USN Steve decided he wanted to become a business owner, so he began a self-funded national research study which had never been completed before. He gathered state data spanning a fifteen year period for the number of small businesses at the county level for the entire country. This was before most states had access to or compiled statistics online. After performing three years of data collection (about 15,000 pieces of paper) and analysis he developed a list of the counties in the USA that had sustained the highest growth rate. This led to his first business: Postage People Mail Order.
Steve became fully self-employed in 2000 with the launch of two companies simultaneously: Specialized Labor Services LLC and Our 3 Scents. Specialized Labor Services was the first company in East Tennessee to offer contract services to food and beverage companies that provided direct service delivery to grocery stores. Our 3 Scents was a retail shop in Gatlinburg Tennessee focused on candle making, herbals and floral. In 2011 Steve began putting together a new business combining hardcopy print, online and social media advertising to tourists for merchants. This developed over the years into RASBiz, Inc. which operated 7 different tradenames. RASBiz was focused on tourism marketing. These tradenames allowed the core business to perform all aspects of the business in-house; such as sales, printing, marketing, publishing, distribution, etc., while providing separate growth opportunity for each tradename. In 2018 Steve began to research the idea of developing a business model that did not rely on worker growth to scale up business growth. After extensive research, study and planning he decide to allow RASBiz, Inc. to become dissolved and soft-launched National Park Souvenir as a wholesale company in 2024. It will be incorporated in early 2026. This business is focused on a wholesale online model serving tourism merchants in national park areas by offering unique American made national park themed products. He also co-founded Axis Mundi, Inc. as a co-owner with Michael Rocha, a writer and artist, from Portugal in 2024. It operates a publishing company for emerging writers and artists under the tradename Aeon Publishing and MiddleVerse, which is a fantasy world created by Steve’s partner.
One response to “Knoxville Global Heritage Initiative: Project Manager”
It’s an honor to serve in this role!