Winston-Salem State University’s (WSSU’s) Simon G. Atkins Community Development Corporation (CDC) has purchased the former Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club building at 1922 S. Martin Luther King Drive. The building will be renovated and developed as an enterprise center to serve as a green-business incubator that will also offer space to meet other community needs, such as a health clinic, green-job training, a community garden, music and language classes, and a computer lab.
Carol Trent Davis
The approximately 40,000 square-foot building will be renovated floor by floor to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status. Carol Davis, executive director of the CDC, acknowledged that being “green” is more than using the right equipment or materials. “We will work to incorporate renewable energy, such as solar panels, and we will emphasize energy conservation and recycling in our operations and in our educational outreach. A community garden will provide food for the neighborhood and volunteers who work in it, which also presents an opportunity to teach good nutrition and entrepreneurship. We would like the garden to be organic, and we will try composting to create fertilizer and collecting rain to water the garden.”
Once the incubator floor is complete, it will become the home for up to 20 small businesses, with an emphasis on those that have a “green” focus. In partnership with WSSU, the Simon G. Atkins CDC is focused on revitalizing the neighborhoods adjoining the WSSU campus and along the Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Drive corridor. Last year, the CDC finished work with Brailsford & Dunlavey to develop a comprehensive strategic master plan for the MLK corridor between U.S. 52 and Waughtown Street; in the plan, reuse of the former Boys and Girls Club site is highlighted as an anchor for the corridor that may stimulate additional development.
“The master plan also supported the concept of developing a business incubator for the MLK Drive community,” Davis said. “This is a prime location for this project and the timing is perfect to meet the demand to grow small businesses and create jobs.”
Notis Pagiavlas, chair of the CDC and WSSU business professor, is a strong proponent of the incubator and is working closely with the CDC on this project because of the significant impact it can have on rejuvenating the community and the region. Under his leadership, the WSSU Center for Entrepreneurship will provide technical assistance to the entrepreneurs, match them with mentors and help them raise capital.
The first phase of renovations will start in Spring 2010 and is expected to be completed in the fall, with the first class of entrepreneurs moving in late this year. Davis has been working with the architect to ensure that the building will accomplish the needed renovations under the green-certification with a goal of having the first green-certified small-business incubator in North Carolina.
“I would like to completely occupy the building with businesses today, but much work needs to be done to retrofit the space,” added Davis. “ We are currently developing partnerships with a diverse group of supporters from WSSU, the City of Winston-Salem, the MicroEnterprise Loan Program, the Chambers of Commerce and even Duke Energy. When The Enterprise Center is complete, the mix of tenants and community organizations will range from small start-up businesses to a health clinic.”
