The Circuit Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
Cherokee County (July 22, 2022) | On Wednesday, July 20, the Cherokee Office of Economic Development (COED), the Woodstock Office of Economic Development (WOED), Chattahoochee Technical College (Chatt Tech) and nearly 50 guests from Cherokee’s entrepreneurial community celebrated The Circuit Woodstock’s fifth anniversary at 1 Million Cups Cherokee (1MC) – a bi-weekly event that offers local entrepreneurs an opportunity to showcase their startups while gaining real-time feedback.
The Circuit serves as Cherokee’s first coworking space and Chatt Tech’s Student Center. The space was founded in collaboration with COED, WOED, and Chatt Tech as an innovation hub for entrepreneurs, students, and the local community. Also available within the 3,000-square-foot coworking space is locally roasted Alma Coffee at Circle of Friends Coffee Shop at The Circuit Café.
Since its launch in 2017, Cherokee is now home to four collaborative coworking spaces – a growing ecosystem that includes The Circuit, The Innovation Spot, The Oak House, and Thrive.
To celebrate The Circuit’s tremendous impact on supporting local entrepreneurs and startups, 1MC Cherokee kicked off with a panel discussion led by COED President Misti Martin with guest panelists David Simmons, VP of Facilities of Chatt Tech, Tom Cox, Chief Creative Officer of MOKO, and Brian Stockton, Director of Economic Development of WOED.
“15 years ago, we were mainly recruiting industries into the community and helping them expand,” said COED President Misti Martin. “Over the past five years, we’ve been able to grow Cherokee’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and support startups on a whole new level through a public-private partnership called Cherokee By Choice.”
Panelist and local brand architect Tom Cox developed the brand story for both The Circuit and the Fresh Start Cherokee initiative, which was designed to create a culture of entrepreneurship and help Cherokee entrepreneurs forget the commute and dig, grind, and hatch their startups close to home.
“As we were developing the brand for The Circuit, it was always going to fall under the umbrella of Fresh Start Cherokee – that’s where the phrase “dig, grind, and hatch” came from – it’s the history of entrepreneurship in Cherokee County,” said Cox. “Most of the people who originally moved here came for gold mining, so that’s where “dig” came from. Then entrepreneurs moved into millwork, so that’s where “grind” came from. Later, Cherokee became known as the world’s poultry capital of the world, so that’s where “hatch” came from. We tied it all in with entrepreneurship of today – you’ve got to dig, grind, and hopefully you’ll hatch a great idea.”
Access to local talent and resources makes The Circuit a supportive environment for business.
“The Circuit offers a unique opportunity for our students to network with local startups,” said Chatt Tech VP of Facilities David Simmons. “Some of these businesses have even hired many of our students. It’s a great partnership and a win-win for all parties involved.”
The City of Woodstock has also experienced sustained entrepreneurial and small business growth as a result of initiatives like Fresh Start Cherokee and The Circuit.
“We recently opened Made Mercantile, which is a similar program for retail makers within the city,” said WOED Director of Economic Development Brian Stockton. “The Circuit has been a good test run for this type of office space. People are looking for a different way to work so collaborative spaces like these are a great start.”
The event also featured an insightful panel discussion led by Woodstock-based entrepreneur Jonathan Chambers and six successful Circuit members, who shared how their businesses got started and scaled out of The Circuit. Panelists included Black Airplane Co-Founders David Leggett and Mayor Michael Caldwell, MOKO President & Founder Thomas Cantley, SuiteSciens Founder Shalakay Gibbs, Grow ROI Founder Ben Carter, and Alma Coffee Co-Founder Harry Hutchins.
During the presentation, Black Airplane Co-Founder David Leggett reflected on being The Circuit Woodstock’s founding member and launching award-winning digital design and development agency Black Airplane saying, “this coworking space was tremendously valuable to our team – it was our launchpad. Without The Circuit, I don’t know if we would have a company today.”
The Circuit offers a variety of membership levels including hot desks at $100/month, dedicated desks at $150/month, and private offices at $350/month.
To get connected with The Circuit and learn more about Cherokee’s thriving entrepreneurial community, visit circuitwoodstock.com or email info@cherokeega.org.