Co-CEOs Dejuan Jordan and Hal Bowling receive InBIA Entrepreneurial Organization of the Year Award
The first six months of 2024 have been busy for LAUNCH, a local nonprofit whose mission is to empower communities and individuals through entrepreneurship, particularly individuals who are underrepresented in the field. The nonprofit received two awards from the International Association for Business Innovation: Entrepreneur Support Organization of the Year and the Julius Morgan Diversity and Inclusion Award.
Additionally, to better serve its food industry clients, LAUNCH acquired a 20,000-square-foot building that houses a kitchen incubator in Chattanooga.
At the 38th International Business Incubation Conference in San Antonio, InBIA recognized national and international organizations that support entrepreneurs. The Julius Morgan Diversity and Inclusion Award, named for the first African-American member of InBIA’s board of directors (1990-1996), honors those who bring economic development to the city’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“This is a true honor,” said Hal Bowling, co-CEO of LAUNCH. LAUNCH has been carefully considering our mission and strategy for many years. We truly believe that entrepreneurship is the growth mechanism that will bring greater equity to our community. It is an honor to have our work recognized by an international organization like InBIA.”
Co-CEO DeJuan Jordan added, “We have an outstanding team that is deeply committed to our mission and customer service. This recognition from InBIA is a testament to their dedication and hard work. Hal and I would like to express our sincere gratitude to InBIA for these prestigious awards and support. This honor not only validates our efforts, but also strengthens our determination to bring the transformative power of entrepreneurship to people who have great business ideas but lack the resources or knowledge to get started. We are excited to continue supporting individuals and fostering innovation in our community.”
Many of these entrepreneurial dreams are related to the food industry (both foodservice and packaged goods). To address this large sector and support these dreams, LAUNCH founded the Chattanooga Kitchen Incubator in 2020 to serve aspiring food entrepreneurs.
“Throughout our cohort, we found that roughly 20 percent of those who participated in the program had a business idea that involved food or foodservice. As many of us know, the restaurant and food industry is notoriously a very difficult and expensive business to start and maintain,” Bowling said.
“KIC's original goal was to provide a shared kitchen space for the city's food entrepreneurs, with equipment that complied with Department of Health and Department of Agriculture regulations and a consistent cooking location. We knew this space would fill a unique need in the city, and the shared kitchen concept fostered a community of entrepreneurs who not only grew their own businesses, but also encouraged and supported each other,” said Jordan.
In 2022, LAUNCH invested in renovating its leased space to reflect the organization's long-term vision and allow more entrepreneurs to utilize the space. Investing in the space presented a long-term challenge: although LAUNCH had a long-term lease, it did not own the building.
As they thought about the future and the importance of continuing the organization's work at KIC, they realized that without ownership of the building, their operations would be at the mercy of factors outside of their control. After notifying the building's owner of their intention to sell, co-CEOs Bowling and Jordan, along with their team, negotiated an agreement for LAUNCH to purchase the property. With this acquisition, KIC will have a permanent home in Brainerd and will continue to support diverse, talented entrepreneurs and shape the future of food-centric entrepreneurship in Chattanooga.
“We are grateful to the many individuals and organizations that made this achievement possible,” Bowling and Jordan said. “Our board of directors and finance committee worked countless hours on this transaction and played a critical role in its success. We are extremely grateful to Bright Bridge Financial Partners for their key role in fundraising, as well as our funding partners, the Benwood Foundation, Lyndhurst Foundation, McClellan Foundation, Footprint Foundation and Howard Foundation, and the many generous individuals who believed in our mission and made significant donations.”
“We would be remiss if we did not thank our excellent staff for their hard work and express our gratitude to our real estate agents, Natalie Hostetler of CBRE and Chuck Fischer of Grant, Kombalinka & Harrison, who provided their invaluable expertise throughout the legal process of the purchase.”
The Chattanooga Kitchen Incubator's permanent location is at 5704 Marlin Road.
Eastgate Mall in Brainerd.
The LAUNCH team, from left, Pat Rowe, Mark Holland, Karen Collins, Hal Bowling and Dejuan Jordan, in front of the KIC building.
