Forsyth Tech settles into 525@vine
(pictured above: Forsyth Tech Small Business Center Director Allan Younger leads a seminar at 525@vine.)
Forsyth Tech’s Business & Industry Services Division officially opened Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 525@vine in Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.
525@vine, a former tobacco factory that was recently redeveloped and renovated into a mixed-used laboratory and office building, houses Forsyth Tech’s R. J. Reynolds Corporate Training Center, BB&T Biotechnology Program, Wells Fargo Nanotechnology Program, National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce, BioNetwork and Small Business Center.
The opening ceremony featured remarks by college and Innovation Quarter officials followed by media tours of the renovated space.
“We are excited to be expanding our presence into Winston-Salem’s vibrant downtown,” said Forsyth Tech President Dr. Gary Green. “Our location in the Innovation Quarter reflects the vision of the college to bring together services for business and industry under one roof where we can intersect with the business community as our client instead of the individual student.
“Here in the Innovation Quarter, we are at the epicenter of local economic development, making our business services more accessible than ever before, and creating opportunities to build new and even stronger collaborations that support the growing needs of our business community.”
Forsyth Tech’s 24,000-square-feet of innovative work space at the Innovation Quarter was funded with $7 million raised through its Momentum Capital Campaign, which came to a conclusion in 2013, and includes lab facilities, computer labs, flexible classroom and meeting room space as well as small and large collaborative work areas.
Forsyth Tech at Innovation Quarter will serve more than 1,200 students each year, as well as a growing number of corporate clients and small business owners.