Gwinnett County commissioners have approved plans for a new entrepreneurship center designed to help new and small businesses get a leg up.
The Gwinnett Entrepreneurship Center will be a hub for workshops, coaching, networking opportunities and other resources for local business owners. It will also house private offices and coworking spaces, a county press release said.
Commissioners approved a $1.5 million plan to renovate a former preschool in Lawrenceville to house the center. The 6,718-square-foot building will be remodeled to include conference rooms, training areas and an outdoor workspace.
The initiative will be “actively recruiting” business owners from low- and moderate-income households and people from minority backgrounds to help build their businesses, the county said in a release. The entrepreneurship center may also partner with Georgia Gwinnett College’s business program; the county is “in talks” with the college to potentially operate the center with direction from the county government, the release said.
“We want to help small business succeed. There may be someone in Lawrenceville or Suwanee who has an idea that could be the next Amazon or Microsoft,” said Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlotte Nash. “The GEC can help those people with the necessary nuts and bolts of business to flourish.”
Once the renovation is complete, the entrepreneurship center is “tentatively” expected to open late this year, the county said.
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