theCO offers ways to expand business skills

June 16, 2022

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff,

JACKSON, Tenn. — A local nonprofit is giving business owners the opportunity to expand their skills and maybe even their business.

theCO

theCo is providing multiple opportunities throughout the summer for local business owners and even for youth.

“We have a series of eight workshops that are kicking off at the end of June, and those are topics from like learning the basics of Canva, to organizing your time, to social media marketing. There’s even a coding workshop,” said theCO Executive Director Lisa Garner. “So a lot of different things focused on helping business owners as they’re thinking through what’s next.”

Also in June, theCO will be hosting a Raspberry Pi camp, a three day camp where youth ages 11 to 16 can learn about coding and physical computing.

“They will work with a Raspberry Pi, which is a micro computer. They’ll work through a project and leave that day with the micro computer that they can take with them, and they can continue to build projects from it,” Garner said.

From June 16 to July 15, theLOCAL is accepting applications for the next round of tenets. This means three new micro retail businesses will be located right in downtown Jackson.

theLOCAL

“We’re looking for the next round of theLOCAL. So we’re looking for three creative entrepreneurs. That could mean so many different things. It doesn’t have to look like the same businesses that have already been a part of it,” Garner said.

The lease for theLOCAL is one year. Garner started her business at theLOCAL and says it’s a great way for small businesses to feel out micro retail.

“It’s an incubator model. So it’s a test model. So you’re trying this whole retail thing out in this really small space. It’s a low-risk environment, so low rent and then just the short lease,” Garner said. “So to do a one-year lease really kind of is an opportunity to just test something.”

theLOCAL