ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – This week’s CN2 Hometown Hero award is going to a man who is retiring after making quite the impact. Many say he has not only changed Rock Hill’s community, and its businesses, but also many lives.
They say Rock Hill is small businesses and the entrepreneurial community here is unmatched. That spirit comes from projects like Knowledge Park’s Tech Incubator and leaders like David Warner.
Rock Hill Mayor John Gettys says, “You know it’s sort of felt like we caught lightning in a bottle over the last several years with the entrepreneurs, the center the tech incubator and it’s been fun to watch it and grow and takeoff from there so to David my sincerest thank you and congratulations on your retirement.”
The idea of the Tech Incubator came about after the ‘08 recession opening its doors in 2013. Starting with nearly 10 businesses David Warner helped this areas entrepreneurial economy grow by helping more than 200 businesses get off the ground and helped spark diversity helping with the B.E.L.L. XPrize.
Delta Bravo Artificial Intelligence Founder Rick Oppedisano says, “So David for us is sort of the ultimate dot connector. He’s helped us find people that are like us in Rock Hill, mentoring opportunities for folks like me. I’ve done this before but you never learn enough and getting other perspectives is always excellent so David has been wonderful and helping us connect those dots with people that can help us through the business and with new customers.”
Dawn Johnson with the B.E.L.L. XPrize saying, “It’s just been great doing the idea exchange with David and that’s really how B.E.L.L. was born. He brought a bunch of black on business owners together to say how do we solve this diversity challenge, how do we get black people in these incubators and that’s how we continue to meet and eventually formalize ourselves into the Black Economic Leadership League to continue to help with diversity challenges.”
As David retires, the Tech Incubator is closing its doors but a new door is opening through Rock Hill’s Gravity Center some saying its allowing David’s work and ideals to live on.
Knowledge Perk Co-Founder and Gravity Center Co-Founder Ryan Sanderson shares, “So many of the big companies started with a little company and the local community that understands that and empowers those entrepreneurs and help support that ecosystem like David did, creates a ripple effect that has led to you know what started as a small incubator and is now the Gravity Center and there’s so much more coming to the area.”
Gravity Center Board Member Tadean Page says, “Again to have someone as an entrepreneur to believe in you is probably one of the best things you can ever have. It’s already scary, it’s already difficult, you already don’t have the money to fund it, but to have someone say ‘hey I think this is an idea that scalable something that could work but also impacts a lot of others,’ and I think David not only did that for me but so many other people in our community and we’re seeing the fruits of that labor now.”
Gravity Center Board Member, Robert Alexander saying, “He’s definitely has a lot of energy and a lot of expertise in making things like this happen in Rock Hill through that quasi-governmental agency as well as through leading people and mentoring people here in town related to homegrown economics.”
In the video above, CN2’s Rachel Richardson is introducing us to our latest CN2 Hometown Hero.
