Forge Greensboro has a new leader who is already making changes at the nonprofit community makerspace.
Lonnie Cockerham joined the Forge as executive director in March following the departure of Joe Rotondi.
Rotondi, who announced his decision to leave last fall, helped the Forge grow from a hobbyist organization to a springboard for entrepreneurs, a career discovery tool for adolescents and a community for creatives. Under his seven-year tenure as executive director, the Forge double its budget and membership and created six new positions.
Forge Greensboro said that Rotondi will “likely continue” as a board member.
Cockerham most recently served as the director for community engagement at North Carolina A&T State University. Throughout his career, Cockerham has also worked in executive and programmatic positions at local organizations like Guilford Technical Community College, the city of Greensboro and the Greensboro and Davie County affiliates of Habitat for Humanity.
Staying in downtown Greensboro
Along with the announcement of its new executive director, Forge Greensboro also announced that it would be renewing its lease at its current location, 219 W Lewis Street.
The decision reverses the makerspace’s commitment to move into the Steelhouse, a redevelopment project at the Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship. The Forge said its commitment was contingent on funding that it co-applied for from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge.
“Although the funding for the Steelhouse move did not come through, this does not dampen our ambition or our plans for the future,” Cockerham said. “We are fully dedicated to enhancing the maker culture in Greensboro and providing our community with an even better makerspace.”
The organization said it is exploring the possibility of purchasing a property to expand its facilities. The Forge told TBJ last year that it was quickly outgrowing the 12,000-square-foot downtown building. The space it planned to take at the Steelhouse is 28,000 square feet.
Despite Forge Greensboro’s backing out, the Nussbaum Center says its plans for the Steelhouse are moving forward and are not greatly affected.
“The Forge not moving in doesn’t impact the project at all,” said Lisa Hazlett, Nussbaum’s president. “All it means is that there’s more space available for small businesses.”
Hazlett added that the project is currently in the design phase and is focusing on infrastructure and upfit for the project’s first two phases. To date, the project – which will cost an estimated $36 million – has raised over $8.6 million, including $2 million in federal funding from the bipartisan omnibus bill.
And although the Forge did not give the Nussbaum Center a heads up about its lease renewal, there is no bad blood between the organizations, Hazlett said.
“We’re still playing in the same space. We’ll continue to work together. We still think they’re a great organization,” she said.
