Atlanta’s Flatiron Building Offers Major Entrepreneurial Support
With an increasing number of MBA students pursing concentrations in entrepreneurship, Atlanta’s downtown area is preparing more and more resources for start-ups. It’s looking like Atlanta’s oldest skyscraper, the Flatiron building, is going to be the hub of a lot of this new activity.
Recently two major projects were announced to help spur small business growth. Both take place in the Flatiron which is being redeveloped into what may be an entrepreneurial powerhouse. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the building will be home to a new “innovation center” from Microsoft as well as a business incubator for women called the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI).
Microsoft’s innovation center will provide resources to startups, entrepreneurs and students in the area by offering mentoring, coaching and grants as well as access to some of Microsoft’s software and development tools. Microsoft plans on working closely with the WEI as well.
The WEI hopes to help women in the Atlanta metro area grow their small businesses. Located on the top floor of the Flatiron building, WEI will select 15 women entrepreneurs for free residencies in the office. The residencies will be for 15 months and give the women access to a multitude of resources as well as opportunity to meet with some of the city’s leading female executive.
It was announced last year that the Flatiron building would be undergoing renovations. The 40,000 square foot space is being repurposed into a mixed-use space similar to the Ponce City Market. Aside from the business incubators there will also be collaborative work spaces as well as retail and entertainment spaces. It is scheduled to be open in summer, 2015.
