CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- The saga of Hamilton County’s small business incubator continued Wednesday evening at the Hamilton County Commission.
The question for the Hamilton County commissioners was whether or not to begin the process of selling the Northshore business development center that houses Hamilton County’s Small Business Incubator.
Since Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp unveiled his vision to move the incubator to the future Franklin-Roberts Future Ready Institute at the Gateway Building on the Chattanooga Westside, it has sparked backlash from business owners at the incubator.
We previously heard concerns from them about Franklin-Roberts’ ability to handle heavy machinery and potential disruptions and economic burdens on their businesses.
During public comment, C. DiPietro, told commissioners, “The building is worth $6.5 million. The county should not be so strapped for cash that it has to sell the building in order to make the school happen.”
A business owner we previously spoke with, Kaleena Goldsworthy, said, “This building has helped over 500 businesses and generated over $79 million in economic impact. That feels like a compelling argument to me (to keep the incubator).”
Mayor Wamp reiterated that he believes the potential of the current business incubator is being capped at the current facility, as he has told us that in his view the building is in disrepair and is limiting the amount of businesses that can go into that building.
He addressed concerns that the top half of the Gateway Building would be unable to handle heavy machinery, saying the third and fourth floors of that building have a unique construction.
Mayor Wamp explained, “The third and fourth level are best thought of as levels because they are not floors that sit on top of each other. There’s a firewall between the second level and the third level they sit on different floor plates.”
He also stated that without selling the Northshore incubator, the move to Franklin-Roberts would not happen, as he says the current incubator is not filled with tenants, and says that the square footage of available space would be similar between both locations.
Commissioner David Sharpe, who voiced concerns about the fiscal responsibility of the move, pressed the mayor on if the potential sale would pay for the new site, and the Mayor responded, “The third and fourth floors will be paid for by the proceeds of the sale of the BDC. That’s the reason that we felt like this makes sense.”
There were several who spoke in favor of the Commission moving forward in the process, believing that the combined technical school and incubator would provide unprecedented opportunities for inner city students.
The downtown area has not had a technical school since the closure of Kirkman Technical School over 30 years ago.
Dr. LeAndrea Ware, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Chattanooga and former principal of The Howard School, which is near the proposed technical school, said, “This would create a pathway where students don’t have to sacrifice their education to support their families.”
Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp, the sister of Mayor Weston Wamp, added that she believes a lot of youth violence stems from lack of opportunities, stating, “I see it over and over again that our kids think that if they do bad at calculus and if they’re bad at algebra that they can’t go do anything with themselves and Franklin Roberts is a step in the right direction but we need Franklin Roberts to be as robust as possible and this is how it happens.”
Goldsworthy responded to them by stating, “We are not opposed to the school and believe both our incubator in its current spot along with the school can both exist, and we don’t know why we are making this a school versus incubator debate.”
The Commission did vote to begin the process of acquiring bids for the business incubator and for the architect firm Tinker Ma to move ahead in their design planning for the school.
Mayor Wamp has previously said that he expects the Franklin-Roberts Future Ready Institute to be ready no later than 2028.
