Cabarrus Center Retail Lab Graduates 14 Local Entrepreneurs, Awards 5 Micro-Grants

Fourteen local entrepreneurs have completed the Fall 2022 Retail Lab Boot Camp—a program established in 2021 to address the complex nature of starting and operating a retail establishment. Entrepreneurs from Cabarrus, Rowan and Mecklenburg counties participated in the program, completing the application-based, six-week immersive boot camp in early November 2022. Five of the graduates were also awarded $2,500 micro-grants after pitching for the members of the Cabarrus Center’s Entrepreneurship Council. Juan Irby,...

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Cabarrus Center Announces Fall Cohort of Retail Lab Boot Camp

On Wednesday, September 28, the Cabarrus Center welcomed a new cohort of fourteen entrepreneurs into the Retail Lab Boot Camp program. The six-week immersive boot camp began in the fall of 2021 as a program to support local entrepreneurs in the early stages of starting a retail business. A partnership between the Small Business Center at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and the Flywheel Foundation, the curriculum consists of instructor-led sessions supplemented by a self-directed Learning Management System. The program...

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Retail Lab Graduate to Open Its First Brick-and-Mortar Location

Rockers Rejoice! Local Guitar Shop Opens in Downtown Kannapolis! The Cabarrus Center is thrilled to announce the grand opening of J. King Guitar at 201 Oak Avenue in downtown Kannapolis on Saturday, September 3 from 11:00am to 6:00pm! J. King Guitar founder, Jack King, graduated from the Cabarrus Center’s Retail Lab Boot Camp earlier this year. This program provides early stage and pre-launch retailers in Cabarrus and Rowan counties with six weeks of immersive, application-based training focusing on business...

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Cabarrus Center Retail Lab Graduates 10 Local Entrepreneurs, Awards 5 Grants

Ten local entrepreneurs are celebrating their graduation from the Retail Lab Boot Camp—a new program created in 2021 to address the complex nature of starting and operating a retail establishment. The 10 graduates of Retail Lab completed an application-based, six-week immersive boot camp on May 4. The following week, five of the graduates chose to pitch for members of the Entrepreneurship Council for $2,500 micro-grants. All five of them were successfully awarded the grants. Bethann McGinnis, owner of Little Beautiful...

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