RALEIGH — Wake Tech Community College and local startup District C were among those selected to receive $15,000-$25,000 grants from the City of Raleigh as part of its second round of its Impact Partner Grant program.
The initiative aims to support the city’s innovation ecosystem, enhancing programs to and services for Raleigh entrepreneurs and small business owners across various sectors including the arts, workforce development, and nonprofit. In total, four regional innovators received the awards. They include:
- District C will seek to empower every public high school in Raleigh to adopt District C programming through Project Raleigh First. Project Raleigh First will allow District C to recruit educators from local priority high schools to participate in the Coaching Institute. This will ultimately develop the next generation of Raleigh innovators no matter their race, gender or background through an opportunity to engage with local startup businesses.
- Triangle Artworks will support the growing number of craft artists, local artisans, and local market managers with the ArtSwell Craft Entrepreneurship program through structured courses and lunch-and-learn events. The goal is to create a stronger, more healthy and sustainable business ecosystem for local craft and artisan community in Raleigh.
- Wake Tech Community College will enhance programming through LaunchRALEIGH by serving additional Southeast Raleigh entrepreneurs while continuing to provide training to program graduates. LaunchRALEIGH’s collaboration with Wake Tech, Shaw University, and Saint Augustine’s University remains a valuable resource to the community. With the chartering of Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization (C.E.O) clubs, entrepreneurial resources and benefits will also extend to students at all three schools.
- Wake County Empowering Entrepreneurs and Seeding Innovation (EEASI) Challenge will advance business development and sustainability through accelerator training, individualized coaching and a pitch competition by engaging with aspiring and existing small businesses and opportunity youth.
Programming will begin in March and will be completed by the end of 2020.
