City Startup Labs is starting off the new year with a new home.
On Feb. 5, the business accelerator and incubator for Black tech founders and formerly incarcerated individuals will move its office from UNC Charlotte's main campus in northeast Charlotte to Central Piedmont Community College's Central Campus. It has operated out of UNC Charlotte's PORTAL building — short for Partnership, Outreach and Research to Accelerate Learning — since 2015, serving as a University Business Partner there until last year.
City Startup Labs' new location will allow it to provide additional educational tools and resources for aspiring entrepreneurs as well as expand its reentry workplace readiness programs for formerly incarcerated citizens. The CPCC campus, situated along Elizabeth Avenue just outside the Interstate 277 loop, is more accessible to uptown.
"We wanted to make sure that that we were a little more aligned with our mission," said Henry Rock, founder and executive director of CSL.
In early 2019, CSL launched its ReEntry Entrepreneurship Program, or REEP, which aims to give justice-involved individuals the tools they need to earn a living wage through innovation and entrepreneurship. In 2021, it started Restorative Pathways, a program partnered with Atrium Health that helps formerly incarcerated people get into health-care careers. Rock said that initiative was launched with the help of Manwell Bynum, head of business acceleration at Atrium.
Transitioning to the CPCC campus will enable the organization to recruit participants for those programs, boost collaboration between new and existing partners, and serve as a resource of the school's Small Business Center.
"We want to develop a great relationship not only with the students, but with the faculty, so we can cross-pollinate and collaborate — particularly around our work, because it is really focused on improving socioeconomic mobility outcomes for this population," Rock said.
He said it's important for CSL to work with formerly incarcerated individuals in order to help them navigate the hurdles they face when it comes to landing employment. The programs can help them create their own jobs to build generational wealth and ensure they have a clear understanding of what it takes to launch a new venture.
"We feel formerly incarcerated individuals can be catalyst for creating economic activity, so we want them to think not just about the cheddar, but about making things better," he said.
CSL, founded in 2014, has seen more than a dozen profitable businesses created by participants who successfully completed its programs.
It plans to keep the momentum going with a new social venture currently in the development stage. Rock said more information on that will be provided at a later date. CSL hopes to also gain additional employer clients this year for its Restorative Pathways workplace readiness program.
"We want to really find ways that we can explore that deeper," he said. "And we really want to use the student body and faculty to help us unpack and reimagine what opportunities can be."
