Agenda 8-e - New Three-Year Interlocal Agreement between Orange County and the Town of Chapel Hill to Continue Joint Funding for the “LAUNCH, Inc.” Small Business Incubator

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8 The first new opportunity was to open co-working space, which was accomplished with very limited resources, including in-kind donations. When LCH was started, it was the only such offering in town promoting entrepreneurship as a tool for economic development through an accelerator model (LCH Phase 1-2013). After Launch opened co-working space (LCH Phase II-2017), the landscape changed. The Amsterdam-based co-working company, Spaces, will occupy 33,000 square feet at the Station at East 54,taking up the first three floors at the six-story building on Hamilton Road.The Town-County-University partnership for LCH has an opportunity to adapt to these changes and enhance the offerings of LCH to meet the current and future needs of our entrepreneurial community. The Parties to this MOU agree to the following: • A central connector group is needed in Chapel Hill and perhaps Orange County to serve as a virtual and physical one-stop shop for entrepreneurship (LCH Phase III). • The LCH board and personnel have the potential, if resourced appropriately, to take on that expanded role. • The name "Launch Chapel Hill" should be extended to cover that connector group—to be the major brand if this expansion is limited to the Town of Chapel Hill. If Launch is expanded to cover all of Orange County,then the name "Launch"would be used perhaps in combination with a town name—e.g. Launch Carrboro. "Sub-brand" variants could also be developed, such as (the following are only working titles/placeholders) Launch Accelerator, Launch Works (co-working), Launch Network (convening and programming for the community, and events), Launch Places (work with landlords on spaces for young companies), and other such central activities. • Launch needs a legal entity such as a 501(c)3 to facilitate Phase III—either one we create or one under another organization's 501(c)3 status. The entity would serve at a minimum as an entity to receive and expend money and hold the lease(s). • UNC's Office of the Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (also known as Innovate Carolina) and the UNC KFBS Center for Entrepreneurial Studies will be the point organizations and programmatic leaders in LCH Phase III-2018. Roles, responsibilities, and financial commitments will be defined during the strategic planning activities to begin in June 2018. The resources currently at hand and the current assignment of the staff are as follows: 1. UNC Innovate Carolina increased its contribution by$10K and has committed $150,000 for the UNC FY19 budget (July 1, 2018-June 30 2019) and $150,000 for FY20. Innovate Carolina sends its funds to the UNC KFBS Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and provides other periodic funding and in-kind services. 2. UNC KFBS Center for Entrepreneurial Studies employs all the current staff(Program Director, EIR team and Program Coordinator) and provides the programming for the accelerator and management of the accelerator and co-working space. 3. The Town and County are at a stable funding level for the upcoming new fiscal budget year and both agree to consider additional funds within future budget cycles for LCH Phase III. The Town and Chapel Hill Economic Development have provided periodic funding and in- z