Cobb entrepreneurs to benefit from grant

Cobb entrepreneurs and innovators may be eligible to receive portions of a $50,000 grant.

That money will be given by the Development Authority of Cobb County to support the new Entrepreneurship & Innovation Incentive Program.

“The purpose of this incentive program is to provide services, assistance and/or incentives to entrepreneurs and innovators who are in high-skilled fields to assist them in growing their business, creating jobs and maintaining their presence in the county,” wrote Cobb Community Development Agency Director Dana Johnson in a July 10 memo to Cobb County Manager Rob Hosack.

To qualify for this incentive program, a business must:

• have participated in the IgniteHQ business incubator program or a program operated by an affiliate or partner of IgniteHQ, be a spinoff technology associated with the Georgia Tech Research Institute or have graduated from an entrepreneurial training program
• be an existing business in Cobb County and
• agree to remain in Cobb County for the three years after the expiration of the mandatory incentive agreement.

In partnership with Kennesaw State University, Cobb’s Competitive Edge and the Cobb Chamber, IgniteHQ at 57 Waddell St. SE, two blocks off the Marietta Square, “connects startups and entrepreneurs with international accelerators, funding opportunities and talent to scale globally,” according to the website at IgniteHQ.co. “We accelerate startups, cultivate job growth and provide market expansion resources in the Southeast.”