Yet another spin-off from the successful CreateHere SpringBoard program is LAUNCH, “a nonprofit initiative whose mission is to equip individuals and businesses from underserved communities with a continuum of job training, business planning and mentoring programs.” As part of this, LAUNCH is partnering with Co.Lab, Lamp Post Group and the Chattanooga Renaissance Fund (CRF) in a yearlong after-school program at Howard High School. LAUNCH is using the program to spark students’ interests in starting their own businesses after high school or college.
Students are being mentored by business and entrepreneurship majors at UTC as they work in groups to create business plans and compete for a $2,000 start-up investment from CRF. The competition will take place at UTC on March 11, 2012.
“Our work also involves recruiting business professionals to become invested in the careers of
individuals in the inner-city through mentoring,” said LAUNCH Executive Director Hal Bowling. He noted the importance of “people [learning] about how they can partner with us to accelerate economic activity and create greater self-sufficiency in Chattanooga’s low-income communities.”
For more information, visit launchchattanooga.org.