Charlotte Entrepreneurs Lead Small Business Grant Initiative
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation received a Small Business Ecosystem Partner Grant from the City of Charlotte to assist small businesses through an integrated support program at UNC Charlotte involving customer discovery training, access to technical talent, mentorship and other services.
The UNC Charlotte Small Business Transformation Catalyst will support founders through entrepreneurial training, mentoring, capital formation and workforce development support. The project expands University business and technical support to small businesses with added capabilities to support businesses led by women, minorities and veterans. Charlotte Launch, a six-week customer discovery program will host its first workshop for over 20 founders on January 18th to kickoff the program.
To lead this initiative, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation welcomes two Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR), Jenny Jackson and James Smith. “With several resources available to small businesses to support growth, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UNC Charlotte and our EIRs will be focused on building connections to these resources, supporting entrepreneurs through one-on-one mentoring, hosting workshops and delivery of training programs,” stated Devin Collins, Co-Director of the Center. “Jenny and James have the experience and enthusiasm to provide mentorship and access to specialized training programs in customer discovery, business model generation, capital formation, and technology commercialization.” As they plan out the program curriculum and workshop details, they discuss their plans for the next 12 months.