City Council unanimously approved $3.9 million in funding for the Corridors of Opportunity Business Opportunity Hub Program on Monday. This initiative provides training and support for small businesses in the six Corridors of Opportunity.
The program contracts with local nonprofits to open and operate office and/or training spaces.
These hubs will offer workforce development, career readiness, small business technical assistance, entrepreneurship support, and training resources.
The nonprofit organizations in the hub program and the funding they received from the city include:
Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Charlotte ($1,500,000)
Hispanic Contractors Association of the Carolinas ($730,000)
Freedom Communities ($599,506)
LISC Charlotte ($499,500)
She Built This City ($302,267)
The NEO Foundation ($300,000)
Freedom Communities, located at 3501 Tuckaseegee Rd, is a nonprofit organization focused on helping underprivileged families with the tools and resources for upward mobility.
Executive Director Hannah Beavers said the additional funding from the city will support launching a co-working space for entrepreneurs.
“We hear a lot of folks in our community that they have a business but don’t have an affordable space to grow their business,” Beavers told QCity Metro.
The hub will have 16 spaces for entrepreneurs to rent at discount rates, Beavers said. Tenants will also have access to business training courses offered by local experts from Aspire Community Capital and Goodwill Industries.
The training will also be available for non-tenants, Beaves said.
She Built This City is a nonprofit that empowers girls, ages 9 to 17, and adult women to learn construction and manufacturing trades through camps, workshops, women-focused career fairs and conferences.
The nonprofit at 920 Blairhill Road, Suite 117B, will use the funding to create a second full-time training facility for the program apprentices
.Executive Director LaToya Faustin said the location will house a free 9-week job training program to help participants learn skilled trades.
“It would be our goal to be able to recruit individuals interested in the skilled trades directly from the community surrounding our hub,” Faustin said. “…then employ those individuals to provide critical home repair to their very own neighborhood.”
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