The new Center for Entrepreneurship for the North Orange County Community College District is funded through the NorthSTAR OC Collaborative, which was awarded an $8.5 million grant.

Anaheim, CA, May 2023 | The Anaheim Campus of the North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD) hosted a celebration of its newly opened Center for Entrepreneurship on Thursday, May 4th. Approximately 100 guests were in attendance, including Senator Josh Newman (CA-29th District), who championed state funding for the NorthSTAR OC Collaborative through the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). Senator Newman’s support resulted in the dispersal of an $8.5 million grant.

NOCCCD Chancellor Clift Breland presided over the ribbon-cutting. Senator Newman spoke at the event and was joined by Tim Shaw, co-founder of RevHub—an OC-based social enterprise incubator—and several other guest speakers from organizations that partnered to create NorthSTAR.

NorthSTAR (STAR is an acronym for Systems To Access Resources) is designed to build the social enterprise ecosystem and create illuminated pathways to entrepreneurship for under-represented and under-resourced communities. The collaborative will be integral in pulling together funding, mentoring, and comprehensive resources for social innovators to explore and create new business ideas, develop ideas into viable ventures, and scale ventures into impact-ready, investable social enterprises. The collaborative will also address inequities in startup support and capital through outreach and engagement, business exploration, ideation, and incubation in under-resourced communities. These efforts will expand beyond social enterprises to all forms of new business creation, from small side-businesses to scalable technology ventures.

“I’m excited to see the impact of this funding through the work of the NorthSTAR OC Collaborative in generating more regional economic development and helping people create financial security for themselves and their communities through business ownership,” said Senator Newman. “I hope this is just the beginning of establishing Orange County as the epicenter of social entrepreneurship.”

Located on the tenth floor of the Anaheim Campus, the NOCCCD Center for Entrepreneurship is open to serve as a hub for mentoring, incubating, and growing social enterprises.

About RevHubOC |
RevHub is coalescing Orange County’s social enterprise ecosystem for greater innovation and impact. Founded in 2019, RevHub is a community of investors, entrepreneurs, mentors, and partners which has incubated 23 social enterprises and established RevFund I, Orange County’s first social impact investment fund. In 2022, RevHub joined several partners in establishing the NorthSTAR (Systems To Access Resources) OC Collaborative to build the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Orange County. This ecosystem is designed to illuminate pathways and eliminate barriers to entrepreneurship for under-represented and under-resourced communities.

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