Fort Payne – DeKalb County Entrepreneurial Center (E-Center
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The Fort Payne Rotary Club has partnered with District 6860 through DDF grant funding for the establishment of the FORT PAYNE-DEKALB COUNTY ENTREPRENEURIAL CENTER (E-Center). This project has its root and creation with a vision of a better community by Fort Payne Rotary Club members.
They envisioned this endeavor to make Fort Payne and DeKalb County a better place to live for its citizens by the creation of a facility that will provide entrepreneurial resources through educating, equipping and empowering those who want to grow and succeed in business. These Rotarians founded the non-profit FORT PAYNE-DEKALB ENTREPRENEURIAL CENTER as a 501(c) non-profit entity. |
The future home for E-Center is a 50,000 sq ft building located on Gault Avenue near the center of downtown Fort Payne. It was purchased with local donations. Presently, drawings are being prepared to tailor the building for use with educational classrooms and offices. This facility will be used for providing a physical location for a start-up business, civic organizations, students and individuals to initiate or incubate a business or idea.
The membership and board of Fort Payne Rotary Club wishes to participate in this E-Center effort by providing financial aid in those areas allowed/governed by Rotary International rules. Ou
r club also intends to partner long term with the E-Center through 1) providing yearly financial support towards their educational efforts and 2) to advertise our support which will help our club’s identity in our community and should aid in increasing our club membership.
Current Rotary Year 21-22 DDF Gran funding will be focused on partnering with and supporting The Summit of Fort Payne. The E-Center plans to provide workbooks and self-help instructional material that will allow women to grow as individuals with a positive future outcome. Any residual amount will be utilized to focus on the Educate tract. In order to build out the Educate track, Rotarians will research and select modules and curriculum that will allow the E-Center to teach basic life skills, etiquette, time management, how to identify business target market, cost analysis, marketing strategies, time management, selling, closing and negotiation.
