Southeast Shoutouts | New CO-LAB in Charlotte recognized as a strong catalyst
New Switchyards co-working in Charleston, SC sells out space in less than four minutes.
From Charlotte, NC:
Charlotte Inno reports that just months in, the University of North Carolina (UNC) Charlotte’s CO-LAB is already being recognized as a strong catalyst for local innovation, workforce development, and academic collaboration.
Since opening in March, the CO-LAB has leased all of its private offices and built a waitlist. Organizations such as EO Charlotte, RevTech Labs, Smart Girls HQ, The Boost Pad, and gener8tor are among those to move their offices into the space.
“What we’re trying to do is bridge that gap between what’s happening 8 miles up the road and the great things that are happening in the city within this space,” said Brad Yeckley, who is also Executive Director of UNC Charlotte’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, of which the CO-LAB is a part. “We’re focused on academics and research while also being intentional about supporting the North Tryon Tech Hub.”
The space, located at 301 E. Ninth St. in uptown, was created to unify Charlotte’s fragmented entrepreneurial landscape. The 38,000-square-foot facility, leased and operated by the university, is among the first key elements in plans for a North Tryon Tech Hub, which has been in discussions since 2022. It brings together students, entrepreneurs, small-business support organizations, investors and corporate partners under one roof.
“We have five entrepreneurial support organizations operating under one roof,” Yeckley said. “That’s a huge win for the city.”
From Charleston, SC:
Is there a demand for more co-working space, even as businesses are expecting employees to be in their offices more? A new offering in Charleston thinks so, selling out its 250 memberships in three minutes and 38 seconds after opening the membership portal.
Switchyards is described in an article in The Charleston Post & Courier as a chic neighborhood work club that opened April 28 at 635 Rutledge Avenue. The organization has locations in Asheville, NC; Atlanta, GA (12); Charlotte, NC (2); Denver, CO; Greenville, SC; Kansas City, MO; and Nashville (5). There a locations coming soon to Austin, TX, and Birmingham, AL.
From Tampa, FL:
Embarc Collective has launched a corporate partnership program with ReliaQuest as the nonprofit’s inaugural partner.
“This program represents the next chapter in our evolution – creating powerful connections between our 135+ innovative start-ups and established industry leaders,” Embarc Collective writes in a new release. “By bringing these worlds together, we’re building an ecosystem where start-ups can access real-world industry insights while corporations gain early visibility into groundbreaking solutions.”
With the group’s start-ups already demonstrating a 96 percent survival rate and raising more than $600 million in funding, this new corporate dimension will further elevate Tampa Bay as a premier destination for technology innovation.
From Bentonville, AR:
Axios NW Arkansas reports that two grandsons of Walmart Founder Sam Walton plan to launch a private university focused on science and tech, located on the company’s old headquarters campus near downtown Bentonville.
The as yet-to-be-named STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)-focused higher education institution is an initiative of Steuart and Tom Walton, grandsons of Sam Walton, and was announced last Thursday at the Heartland Summit. It will be a model of modern, flexible learning, based on the site of the “home office” where the world’s largest retailer was built from Sam Walton’s five-and-dime.
Steuart Walton, a member of Walmart’s board, told Axios in an interview that higher education “should move at the speed of innovation. This institution will stay agile and grounded, built to meet the world as it changes.”
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