Davidson College's Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has partnered with the town of Davidson to launch an initiative aimed at escalating the growth of small businesses there.
Amplify Davidson, which launched on Sept. 7, provides a multifaceted approach with learning and networking opportunities for local entrepreneurs and small businesses. The key components of the initiative include skills-based educational programming, access to business consulting and matching underrepresented entrepreneurs with subsidized talent.
Liz Brigham, director of The Jay Hurt Hub at Davidson, said those offerings are crucial for small businesses to succeed.
"We believe that by equipping our small businesses with essential skills and resources and fostering a collaborative culture around entrepreneurship, we can create a thriving and resilient community," she said.
The program was made possible through grant funding the Jay Hurt Hub received through the town of Davidson.
The educational classes, which are free to Davidson residents and small-business owners, focus on community-identified challenges such as marketing, adapting to current tech trends and entrepreneurship fundamentals. According to The Hurt Hub website, the first class starts Sept. 20 and will teach participants how to build a "lean startup."
As part of the initiative, Davidson-based businesses can also qualify for financially supported and pro bono consulting services. The offering provides insights on topics from discovering masked inefficiencies to providing effective solutions.
Amplify Davidson connects businesses to subsidized talent through the Gig-Hub program, which pairs student consultants with a diverse range of employers to complete short-term, real-world projects for them. Assignments could include data analysis, market research, copywriting, marketing and social media.
The Hurt Hub at Davidson, founded in 2018, was created to encourage collaboration between students, businesses and the community.
