Harbor Entrepreneur Center dedicates new Mount Pleasant offices

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Harbor Entrepreneur Center leaders were joined Aug. 4 by business and political leaders in celebrating the return of the center to Mount Pleasant. The center’s new offices are at 11 Ewall St.

The Harbor Entrepreneur Center was established to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem for students, veterans, career changers and businesses to develop new enterprises and ideas to grow in the Charleston region, according to a news release.

With major support from the town of Mount Pleasant, the 38,00-square-foot facility provides a collaborative space to inspire, educate and elevate entrepreneurial organizations, venture capital investment and innovation. The HEC currently houses more than 50 high-growth locally owned companies, the news release stated.

“Entrepreneurs are primary drivers of innovation, job creation and prosperity," HEC Executive Director Grady Johnson said in the release. "The financial backing of the town of Mount Pleasant, the South Carolina Research Authority, Charleston County Economic Development, and the Charleston Regional Development Alliance gives us this incredible opportunity to make entrepreneurial resources available to all members of our community.”

Mayor Will Haynie welcomed the HEC by saying, “The town of Mount Pleasant is thrilled and honored to have been selected as the location for the Harbor Entrepreneur Center. Their being the lead agent in technology and entrepreneurship for the One Region Roadmap Commission, of which I’ve been a member since inception, is further proof that Mount Pleasant is the place for innovation, technology, and economic growth.”

The mission of the HEC is to support the economic vitality of the region “through the collision of thinkers, doers and visionaries. When entrepreneurs collide, ideas are exchanged, relationships are built, and business growth accelerates.”

South Carolina Research Authority Executive Director Bob Quinn; Councilmembers Howard Chapman, John Iacofano and Jake Rambo; HEC co-founder Patrick Bryant; HEC Chaos Coordinator Kim McManus; Charleston County Economic Development Senior Director Ashley Richardson; Charleston Regional Development Alliance President David Ginn; Catch Talent founder Christina Lock; Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments Regional Economic Development Specialist Ryan Wilcox; Kevin Gathmann of Cushman & Wakefield Inc.; and Amin Yachnes of JRS Coding School took part in the ceremony.

For more information on available office space and programming at the Harbor Entrepreneur Center, email Johnson at grady@harborec.com.