Fund 17 is a local non-profit works to combat opportunity inequality throughout New Orleans’ 17 wards by providing micro-entrepreneurs with financial and educational tools. Their latest project is opening a Community Business Incubator in the Seventh Ward.
“Incubators and coworking spaces are becoming more and more common in New Orleans, but too often those spaces are geared towards the white male dominated tech space.” said Haley Burns, Founder and Executive Director of Fund 17. “We envision our Community Business Incubator as a place for entrepreneurs and small business owners from the neighborhood to access valuable resources and support to grow their ideas and sustain their livelihoods.”
The small business resource center will provide entrepreneurs with one-on-one consulting, micro-lending, business workshops, computers, software, a business address, affordable membership rates, and space for networking and events. The incubator will also have computers, printers, books, and cameras for the entrepreneurs and small business owners in the space.
Fund 17’s Community Business Incubator will be open this fall as part of a new development, the Rose Collaborative, on Bayou Road and Columbus Street in New Orleans.