The opportunity hub in the Freedom Drive corridor is already seeing success and the West Sugar Creek corridor plans to reopen its hub this year.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The city of Charlotte is seeking solutions for small businesses in underserved neighborhoods through its Corridors of Opportunity program.
Since 2020, the city has used private partnerships to invest in six different communities. Assistant City Manager Tracy Dodson said on Monday the city has invested almost $100 million since its inception with a nearly one-to-one private match.
City leaders met Monday to discuss the program’s successes and what lies ahead for 2025. A big part of that plan is continued support for small businesses through the opportunity hub initiative.
The hubs offer affordable workspaces for small businesses in the corridors and workshops on things like web design and finance.
“We’ve renovated the space, we have 15 resident businesses that operate from there ,” Mark Talbot explained to city leaders as he described the Freedom Communities hub in the Freedom Drive and Wilkinson Boulevard corridor that opened in September.
“The good news is it seems to be working ,” Talbot added.
In the West Sugar Creek corridor, business owner Aliza Diggs-Bailey helped open an opportunity hub on Reagan Drive but was forced to close it after running into disagreements on how to operate the business with other partners.
The center had 14 businesses on board and she’s now working to find a new location.
“It’s definitely been a great opportunity, I don’t look at anything as a challenge,” Diggs-Bailey told WCNC Charlotte.
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Diggs-Bailey is part of Sugar Creek’s new business association, which she said is comprised of 35 businesses.
“We definitely want to have areas where small businesses can have the opportunity to afford to be able to run their businesses,” she added.
They’re working out of the Northside Church until they find a new location. She said as they grow business opportunities in the area, one challenge they continue to face is crime.
“Crime and some illicit activity has definitely been a barrier to business for a lot of the small businesses in the area as well as the community itself,” Diggs-Bailey said.
She said she’s seen some improvements over the last couple of years thanks to their partnership with CMPD and she’d like to see it grow.
“More meetings and focus on those areas with CMPD I think that we could definitely see even more improvements,” Diggs-Bailey said, telling WCNC Charlotte she plans to open Sugar Creek’s new opportunity hub later this year.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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