On Sept. 27, a ribbon cutting ceremony marked the opening of the Innovate Carolina Junction, a new space aiming to foster innovation in the Town of Chapel Hill.
“When they were building this space, the key word they kept in mind was collaboration,” Julia Lutz, the Junction’s community manager, said.
The building is centrally located on Franklin Street, just across from the Carolina Coffee Shop. It features coworking space, private offices and meeting rooms for startups and small businesses.
The project is led by Innovate Carolina, UNC’s initiative to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Sheryl Waddell, the director of economic development and innovation hubs at Innovate Carolina, said the early vision for the space began in 2009 and added that the program was a “real critical need” for the University.
However, many of the project's benefits were not fully realized until the pandemic.
“No one was here. Students weren’t here, faculty weren't here, so a lot of the businesses were really, really struggling,” she said.
Retailers and restaurants, Waddell said, have historically relied heavily on business from the University. She said that during the pandemic it “just became more obvious” there was a need for a space in Chapel Hill where businesses could gather and attract new organizations and jobs outside of the University.
While many startups launch at the University, Lutz said one of the main problems that the town faces is that startups created at UNC tend to leave once their founders graduate. A primary goal of the Junction, she said, is to provide startups a way to “get enough footing” to grow and stay in Chapel Hill.
Innovate Carolina partnered with Launch Chapel Hill, a local startup accelerator, to provide office space and membership to startups. The long-term goal, Lutz said, is when they get to the size of needing an office space of their own, they’ll decide to stay in Chapel Hill to maintain local business “ties.”
