TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Cheers filled the courtyard at the Dunbar Pavilion on Thursday as community members, business owners and former students of the historic Dunbar School gathered for the opening of a new Business Empowerment Center.
The center, located at the Dunbar Pavilion near downtown Tucson, is designed to give entrepreneurs a place to work, collaborate and access resources to help grow their businesses.
Executive Director Freda Marshall said the new space builds on the organization’s mission of serving as a community hub.
“I want to see the ecosystem, especially for the African American community, I want to see that grow and people are supporting those businesses,” Marshall said.
The project cost about $1.1 million and was funded in part through a federal Community Development Block Grant administered by the City of Tucson. Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva also attended the event. Her father, the late Congressman Raúl Grijalva, helped secure federal funding that made the project possible.
Inside the new center are communal workspaces for entrepreneurs along with private rooms that will be available for hourly use. The space is intended to provide a professional environment for meetings, collaboration and business development.
Marshall said the center will also host workshops and classes aimed at helping entrepreneurs learn how to build and manage their businesses.
“The internet is good. Google is good, but sometimes you need real experts,” Marshall said in an interview. “You need subject matter experts to teach people and train people and show people how to legally operate their business.”
For people already working out of the Dunbar Pavilion, the new center represents a place to connect with others doing similar work.
Erica Smith, CEO of the grassroots nonprofit Boys to Men Tucson, said the Dunbar has already helped foster collaboration among organizations and entrepreneurs.
“It is very very important that there are spaces available that we can identify with and that the people we serve can identify with. And the Dunbar has been that,” Smith said.
Smith said the new business center will make it even easier for organizations and entrepreneurs to work together and share ideas.
Marshall said spaces like this can help remove barriers that often make it difficult for people to start a business, particularly by connecting entrepreneurs with experts and other business owners.
“I think people work better when they see other people working and they’re able to bounce ideas off one another,” she said.
Dunbar leaders say the new Business Empowerment Center is expected to be fully operational within the next couple of weeks once final construction details are completed.
——-
Kenny Darr is a reporter for KGUN 9. He joined the team in January 2023. Before arriving in Arizona he was an Anchor and Reporter at KADN in Lafayette, LA. Share your story ideas with Kenny by emailing kenny.darr@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
