Grand Opening of the The George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at CSCC

left to right: Dr. Bill Seymour, CSCC President; Janice Wilson, daughter of George R. Johnson; Dr. Patty Weaver, Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development at CSCC; Mike Griffin, CSCC Foundation Board Chair.

Grand Opening of the The George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at CSCC

Napierra Alexander
Thursday, November 18, 2021 12:00 AM
All, Community, Students, TBR, Events

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Cleveland State Community College celebrated the opening of The George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation on Wednesday. The concept for the Center started with a conversation with the Johnson Family Board of Directors. Collectively, the college came up with an idea to create a Center honoring George Johnson in the business field.  These conversations eventually led us to this new Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation.

“This Center is not just for Cleveland State,” stated Dr. Bill Seymour, CSCC President. “More so, it is for the whole community's benefit.  I greatly appreciate the Johnson Family's commitment to supporting education and workforce development in our region.”

 The Center was created to establish encouragement and support entrepreneurial learning among students, alumni, faculty, and throughout the region. The Center will assist existing as well as potential business owners that are interested in building or growing their own enterprises.  The intent is to connect future and current entrepreneurs with the resources needed to create, launch, and grow business.  

The George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will combine the resources of regional businesses, Chambers of Commerce, Small Business Development Center, Cleveland Bradley Business Incubator, Cleveland State Community College and other private and public organizations to provide innovative and ongoing training.  This will be accomplished through education, competitions, and relationships within the community.  

“Through this collaboration of our network of partners within the region, we are very excited about the opportunity The George R. Johnson Center will provide our students and community members by providing them with the resources, connections, and tools they need to be successful in developing their own enterprises.” stated Dr. Patty Weaver, Vice President of Workforce and Economic Development at CSCC.

The Center will support and promote the Entrepreneurship concentration through the Business AAS degree program as well as provide continuing education training opportunities for practitioners in the field.  In addition to providing education, training and resources, The George R. Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will host “Pitch Competitions” allowing students the opportunity to win in-kind services to help them start their businesses.  

The CEO- Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, a student Entrepreneurship Club, led by our full time faculty member, Sandra Godsey, will provide students with the opportunity to meet with local entrepreneurs in our community, compete in competitions at the local, state, and national level, as well as participate in community projects.  

Scholarships exclusively for qualifying students enrolled in the Entrepreneurship program will be available each year.  For more information regarding scholarships, email entrepreneurship@clevelandstatecc.edu.  

For more information on Cleveland State Community College, visit the website at
clevelandstatecc.edu or email clscc_info@clevelandstatecc.edu. If you are interested in applying,
visit mycs.cc/applynow. Students are currently enrolled online and on-campus through the CSCC
main campus in Cleveland, Tennessee, as well as CSCC’s Athens Center in Athens, Tennessee
and Monroe County Center in Vonore, Tennessee.

CSCC earned the Tennessee Board of Regent’s 2019 College of The Year. CSCC directly serves
Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, and Polk Counties in Tennessee. The College System of
Tennessee is the state’s largest public higher education system, with 13 community colleges, 27
colleges of applied technology and the online TN eCampus serving more than 140,000 students.

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