Charlotte Creates Entrepreneurship

Everyone in and around Charlotte knows the DNC took front and center the week of September 3rd. Here at Promising Pages we are a  non-partisan non-profit and we LOVE to volunteer. Our leadership team decided our volunteer hours should be spent helping out in the many various aspects and undertakings of such a historic, and for Charlotte, unprecedented event.   

Last week I had the pleasure of volunteering with Charlotte Creates at Packard Place. Packard Place is one of the most unique organizations in the Charlotte area.  According to their website, "Packard Place is the hub for entrepreneurship and innovation in Charlotte.  Our mission is to develop fast-growth businesses and the professional community to drive them."  The businesses involved with Packard Place are divided into five specific areas including Technology, Design, Energy, Social Entrepreneurship, and Art. Several of the businesses associated with Packard Place were there to present who they were and what they do as a part of Packard Place.  

The first group I encountered was part of the Social Entrepreneurship hub of Packard Place.  The group was called Second Helping.  It is a coffee shop which employs women recently released from prison.  Melissa Mummert, Program Director for Second Helping said, “In an economy where finding employment is already challenging, women who come home from prison face an even more severe challenge as a result of discrimination against people who have criminal backgrounds.”  Second Helping is helping to change the lives of women in the Charlotte community just like Promising Pages is doing for the children we encounter. 

The next business who left a lasting impression was Eventys.  Eventys is part of the Design group at Packard Place.  It is a company that is a source for invention.  They have a website which allows people to propose an invention they think could be taken to market.  Eventys has scientists who partner with the inventor to get the invention to market.  Once to market Eventys shares the profits with the inventor 50/50.  The company has started the award-winning television show Everyday Edisons.  

One of the technology companies presenting at Packard Place was T1Visions.  T1Visions is a company trying to revolutionize the way we use touchscreen technology.  The product they were displaying was called Social Connect Touchscreens.  It is a video monitor which enabled four to eight individuals to gather around a desk with individual laptops and share documents to one common screen. The desk also has touchscreen capability to move documents or items from the web.  According to President Mike Feldman,  "Teams can connect, share, and learn using an intuitive, multitouch user interface.  Meetings become more efficient, information is highly accessible, and presentations are engaging."  T1Visions has a prototype being used on campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  

The most memorable portion of Charlotte Creates was several Random Acts of Culture.  About once per hour there was a different group who would come in and perform some type of artistic expression.  One performance was a group of four ladies who did a dance which seemed to be a mixture of rhythmic gymnastics and yoga.  Another performance was a lady singing the popular Adele song "Someone Like You."  The song was interrupted with a few poems speaking about empowering women.  


Charlotte Creates at Packard Place was a very unique experience which showed off some of the best of what Charlotte has to offer. Although of business of brining books to children in Charlotte never stopped behind the scenes the week of the DNC, it was good to get out and mingle with other like-minded folks who also want to better our community and leave a long lasting mark.  I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this and to meet so many intelligent people and their entrepreneurial spirit.  

- Mitchell Sharp