With its launch on Thursday, The Entrepreneurs Hub of Charlotte looks to be a tool for success and an arsenal of resources for local small-business owners and creatives.
The new space, located at 7003 Wallace Road in east Charlotte, is a place for "soloprenuers," entrepreneurs, small-business owners, creatives and ministries wanting to work, network and receive the necessary resources to start, grow or scale their business.
Dr. Inga Johnson, founder and executive director of Making it Happen Charlotte, a nonprofit designed to help people restart their lives through social entrepreneurship initiatives, said she began conceptualizing the Entrepreneurs Hub several years ago.
"I’ve always had a passion to help local hidden and overlooked individuals. What I want to do is be able to provide those individuals the same quality and experience and professional atmosphere for them to profit up," she said, of her inspiration for the hub. "A lot of times, affordability is a challenge, but they still need experts, masters, strategists to help them ... That’s why we’re providing the Entrepreneurs Hub."
Johnson founded Making it Happen in 2016 and almost immediately began working on plans for the hub, which she said is meant to compliment, not compete with, the city's many coworking spaces.
"Charlotte is a metropolis and so huge and so diverse, and I think that makes Charlotte the perfect place for something like this," she said. "There’s such a great need for entrepreneurship to burst through because of the challenges we face with jobs."
She added, "Helping people to do life well through entrepreneurship is an answer that will become the solution to some of the economic disparities and lack of jobs."
The Entrepreneurs Hub has already established a variety of local partnerships to give its members the best possible experience, Johnson said. Additionally, she invested about $85,000 into the project, both personally and through Making it Happen.
"I believe that people want to see you investing into your own vision, and then they’ll feel more compelled to join in it with you," she said.
