I Am Empowered - I am the National Urban League

The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga (Chattanooga,TN) is joining forces with other local organizations to support small businesses.

“Our ultimate goal is to develop a center where we can offer additional resources for entrepreneurs,” said Nicole Burney, program director of the Urban League’s Entrepreneur Center.

The Urban League’s program is part of a larger, statewide effort to support small businesses.
Last year, as part of Gov. Bill Haslam’s economic development plan, The Company Lab became one of the state’s nine regional entrepreneurial accelerators. 

The Company Lab received a $250,000 grant to support the mission.

“That was part of our application to the state to become a regional accelerator—we committed to finding ways to support all entrepreneur populations of Southeast Tennessee,” Sheldon Grizzle, co-founder of The Company Lab, said.

Mr.Grizzle said that there are several business development organizations—the Business Development Center,The Company Lab, LAUNCH and, now, the Urban League— in Chattanooga that each have a specific target population.

“We all have our audiences that come through our doors in very natural and organic ways,” he said. “So the best way to serve all those populations is to have many hubs in each of these communities.”

Ms. Burney said that the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce is also supporting the effort.

The Urban League’s program includes a Spring board class and monthly workshops to support budding entrepreneurs and local residents who already own a small business. 

“Eventually we are going to have a resource center where entrepreneurs can come,” Ms. Burney said. “There will be laptops, wireless access, a place to sit down and host a meeting. We want it to be an overall one-stop-shop.” Funding for the Urban League’s effort comes from the city of Chattanooga and the National Urban League.

To read the full article, please visit: http://www.nooga.com/154951/urban-league-program-supports-budding-entrepreneurs-business-owners/