Dr. Greg Rutherford and I presented The Hive to Rock Hill Economic Development Corporation yesterday during the monthly board meeting. I had a lot of individuals approach me afterward with positive comments about the initiative.
So far, we have:
- York Tech providing the institutional framework for the program
- RevenFlo providing professional accountability for all services provided by Hive (and providing knowledge for educational component)
- Edie Dille of York Tech defining and revising the business model, organizational model, and all necessary administrative logistics
- Dr. Ed Duffy as Director of Foundation, contracting entity
- A host of interested students
- Dr. Greg Rutherford, Jason Broadwater, and Edie Dille discussing with City and County Staff (including David Lawrence, Stephen Turner, Carey Smith, Jim Baker, and David Larsen) the collaboration opportunities in hosting the program in Old Town
- RHEDC considering how to participate
- Harry Dalton as a gold contributor (creating match grants for non-profit clients)
- Children’s Attention Home (as a committed client)
- Historic Rock Hill (as a committed client)
- Carolina Student Travel Connection (as a committed client)
- Boys and Girls Club (as a client in consideration)
- (one more unnamed client in consideration)
The program aligns so many goals and objectives of so many organizations and individuals in our community.
The Hive will
- train individuals to function as contracting Internet Services professionals,
- inject people and energy into Old Town,
- help retain Winthrop, Clinton and York Tech grads,
- help pull-in some talented individuals from surrounding areas,
- create a services cluster for city/county economic development,
- create a small business incubator for the new services economy,
- help local non-profits forward their missions creating increased social capital, and
- serve as a visible example of collaborative leadership.