Launch your business.

Grow your organization.

Accelerate your success.

We create tools for entrepreneurs to launch, grow, and accelerate creative businesses.

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Get the tools to succeed
Meet mentors & experts
Connect with fellow creatives
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  • The Center

    • Center for Creative Economy

    The Center has three major programs specifically designed to have a meaningful impact on creative businesses and entrepreneurs.

    • Kinetic Creative Boot Camp
    • Momentum Creative Business Network
    • Velocity Creative Accelerator

    Get started
  • Momentum Network

    • Momentum Creative Business Network

    Momentum brings together creative entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey to breakdown creative silos, connect, and build an innovative community.

    • Online Directory
    • Creative Business Network
    • Online forum and community
    • Job & Recruitment Board

    Get started
  • Velocity Accelerator

    • Velocity Creative Accelerator

    Velocity is a 9-week accelerator designed for the creative entrepreneur to develop the business skills necessary to launch and grow a creative venture.

    • Refinement of your creative business model
    • Customized one-on-one mentoring
    • Investor pitch development

    Get started
  • Kinetic Boot Camp

    • Kinetic Creative Boot Camp

    Kinetic is an intense entrepreneurial program for creative entrepreneurs in that are in the idea-stage of their creative business.

    • Validate your business idea
    • Discover and understand your customer
    • Learn how to forecast the financials for your business

    Get started

    The work of the Center for Creative Economy is transforming the region’s creative cluster

    by focusing on programming designed for creatives to engage, connect, and spur innovation.

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    Companies Launched

    CCE has worked with more than 40 creative companies to develop a business model, and understand what it takes to run a startup.

    Still Thriving

    Creatives are smart, and once they learn the business skills needed, then it’s off to the races earning revenue. The creatives in our cohort are staying in business!

    News and Stories

    Read the latest news and stories from The Center.

    Four Creative Entrepreneurs Receive Awards from CCE’s Kinetic Bootcamp

    Dec 14, 2020

    Four idea-stage entrepreneurs earned awards during the Center for Creative Economy’s Kinetic Creative Bootcamp final presentation. CCE accepted four creative entrepreneurs from Winston Salem, NC and Berlin, Germany to participate in Kinetic, a 4-week intensive entrepreneurial program guaranteed to turn creative ideas into growing businesses. Throughout the program, participants showed […]

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    Three Creative Companies Win Top Prizes from the Velocity Creative Accelerator

    Oct 5, 2020

    Three startups have earned the top seed-stage investment awards in the Center for Creative Economy’s Velocity Creative Accelerator. In the organization’s fifth annual education and seed funding program, ten creative entrepreneurs completed a 9-week entrepreneur education program that refined their business plans and pitches to investors to be one of […]

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    2020. velocity demo day

    Ready to Discover the Next Innovative Idea?

    Sep 23, 2020

    10 finalists of the Velocity Creative Accelerator will be presenting their innovative businesses during this year’s virtual Demo Day on Thursday, October 1. This is the fifth creative accelerator hosted by the Center for Creative Economy (CCE) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  The 10 creative companies have been participating in a […]

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    Come out to a workshop, meetup, or event and find your creative community.

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    What Creative Entrepreneurs and Leaders Say About Us

    We are very proud of the work we do to support creative entrepreneurs build their businesses.
    CCE was a great resource as we planned our recent Global Innovation…we were able to book a top-notch keynote speaker, secure a group tour of the Innovation Quarter, and find inspirational meeting sites that we never knew existed!

    Shelley Rider

    Interloop North America

    “The Center for Creative Economy is an important part of the entrepreneurial growth of Winston-Salem. The creative jobs they nurture and launch are perfectly aligned and in fact contribute to our city’s transition and growth. It is important to recognize the impact that CCE is having on this community and beyond in NC, the Southeast, and nationally.”

    Allen Joines

    Mayor of the City of Winston-Salem

    “The collaboration and experience of mentors combine has really helped give a roadmap of what to do in business “

    Beth Glover

    Founder & Artist of JoyFire

    “I found meetups to be quite informative, and everyone here has been quite welcoming and friendly and they’re wanting to talk to you about what you are doing.``

    Monica Melton

    Piedmont Jazz Alliance, Executive Director

    “Creativity and innovation flourish most when surrounded by a network that understands what is needed to drive success. The Center for Creative Economy provides fuel for creative businesses through programs, accelerator curriculum, and knowledgeable, committed mentors who understand their needs. Exciting breakthroughs are being catalyzed through this endeavor. Let's keep up the momentum!”

    L. David Mounts

    Inmar, Chairman & CEO

    “The Center for Creative Economy is like an ecosystem of people who are just as driven and passionate as I am. And being beside those people really motivates me to push myself to a level I’ve never been to.”

    Kevin Clark

    CEO & Founder of Point Motion

    “We are beginning to draw people in from across the country and the world who want to come here, participate and learn the process of how to have a successful startup. The City of Winston Salem is an avid support of the Center for Creative Economy because we want CCE to help showcase our great City of Arts and Innovation.”

    Denise D. Adams

    Council Member, City of Winston-Salem

    “The most useful thing about this creative accelerator has been really forcing myself to dig into aspects of my business: Planning, forecasting, and even dreaming, that I would have put off for later.”

    Shayla Herndon-Edmunds

    Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Oh My Goodness Herbal Bar

    “The Center for Creative Economy is a center of gravity in the Piedmont Region, where creatives can now go and have a place to explore the economic potential of their creative process and products.”

    Thom Ruhe

    NC IDEA, President & CEO

    The Center for Creative Economy is made possible by our partners.

    Our Partnerships
    Learn more about becoming a partner.