The North Texas Entrepreneur Education and Training Center (NTEETC) calls itself the “starting point” for innovators in the region. Now, the organization is taking the next step in its own journey.
The North Richland Hills-based business resource center, which focuses on pre-venture and startup-phase entrepreneurs, has been focused on community building since opening its doors in 2018. And with the grand opening of a new space in the city this month, the NTEETC will offer members a place to network and collaborate with the addition of flexible office space.
“We really want to create a space where anyone who comes in there, whether they are a CEO of a major company down to the student that is just graduating high school that participated in a JA program and is excited about entrepreneurship, can come and they can engage, and they can learn from each other, and they can build relationships,” Darlisa Diltz, owner and managing director of the NTEETC, told NTX Inno.
Diltz comes from a background working with small business development centers and being one of the first in her family to be an entrepreneur. Hence, she knows about the challenges many businesses face when looking to get off the ground. At the NTEETC, educational development, programming and business services are taught by other entrepreneurs in the region and designed to meet businesses in their development.
“We want people to see first-hand what entrepreneurship is all about… it’s really kind of teaching them and helping them to structure their business,” Diltz said. “We really focus on understanding where that entrepreneur is coming from and helping them to build their business out of whatever scenario they’re in.”
Now, the NTEETC is extending its offerings to the community with the opening of The Center NTX. Set to open its doors on March 26, The Center is a 4,100 square-foot flexible coworking space in North Richland Hills. Like many coworking spaces, it offers business amenities like wifi, notary services and meeting rooms. However, as many coworking spaces turn more towards private offices, The Center is keeping with the open concept, which Diltz said she believes will allow for more collaboration and ecosystem building among its members.
Due to the pandemic, Diltz said The Center will have clear partitions dividing desks and social distancing policies and a member of the staff dedicated to sanitation measures.
“It’s creating that environment where entrepreneurs can come. They can be around other entrepreneurs that are in that same vein,” Diltz said. “It’s not about the coworking per se because there are a lot of amazing organizations in the Metroplex that offer that, but offering more so of a community than just a place to work.”
Diltz said she opened the NTEETC and The Center to make the Fort Worth ecosystem more inclusive. She describes the scene as one where it feels as if you have to know the right people to break into it. However, she notes that other organizations in the region are working to support entrepreneurs' next wave.
Compared to other major Texas cities, Fort Worth falls behind in several metrics, including the number of VC deals and companies landing on the Inc. 5000 list. Besides, other reports have pointed to a lack of investment diversity, creating a “vacuum of capital” in the region.
“It has kind of like an old-school feel,” Diltz said. “They talk about [being more inclusive] but the actions kind of speak something different.”
Diltz is hoping the NTEETC and The Center NTX can help change that. In addition to the new center opening, Diltz was also recently responsible for getting the Northeast Tarrant County chapter of 1 Million Cups off the ground, which she hopes will bring resources to a part of the region lacking them. And looking ahead, through community partnerships, the NTEETC is looking to open more coworking-type spaces around DFW, starting with a location in southern Dallas that, if all goes to plan, is slated to open in the fall.
“We’re building entrepreneurs,” Diltz said.
