LAUNCH Chattanooga

In 2010, a group of local businessmen were moved by the negative impact of the recession on those in poverty and were inspired to call on individuals, churches, and businesses to use their collective experience to provide support to underserved entrepreneurs. Their goal was to focus on communities of high unemployment, empower individuals by fostering an entrepreneurial spirit, and encourage job creation by building small businesses putting people in a position to succeed. With this goal and backing from the community, LAUNCH was born. LAUNCH’s first class, the Business Entrepreneurship Academy, began in April 2011, providing the education necessary to create a new group of entrepreneurs, startups, and business owners. In 2012, LAUNCH expanded into two additional areas of the city and began outreach to a younger generation of entrepreneurs by partnering with The Howard School to create the High School Entrepreneurship Program. This effort has since expanded to four local schools in the Chattanooga urban core, and both youth and adult programs continue to produce streams of motivated, educated graduates from classes in Alton Park, Hill City, East Chattanooga, and Brainerd.