Cleveland State Community College will celebrate the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of the new George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation on Tuesday, March 25, 3 p.m. in the Technology Building on the Cleveland State campus.
The George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation was created to encourage and support entrepreneurial learning among students, alumni, faculty and the community. The Center will connect current and future entrepreneurs with the resources needed to create, launch, and grow business. The Center can be reserved and includes a private workspace, a podcast booth and a conference area for collaboration or training.
The concept for the Center started with a donation from the George R. Johnson Family Foundation. Johnson was a longtime restaurant entrepreneur owning more than 40 Hardee’s Restaurants across Tennessee and Northwest Georgia. He served as a Cleveland State Community College Foundation board member from 1979 through 1996. Johnson believed strongly that access to education was key to creating better lives and building stronger communities.
Along with the ribbon cutting, the Center will host an Entrepreneurship Event the same day. Five
students will compete in the fourth annual Student Pitch Competition at 12 p.m., and seven businesses will compete in the third annual Community Pitch Competition at 6 p.m. The Lynn Jones Foundation will award prize money for the winners of the competitions. For more information, visit mycs.cc/entr, call (423) 478-6224 or email entrepreneurship@clevelandstatecc.edu.