City Startup Labs, a Charlotte business accelerator and incubator for primarily justice-impacted individuals, has signed a lease for its newest venture. Dubbed ReConnex, the venture will operate as a retail digital device repair business that CSL will run at 5430 N. Tryon St, Charlotte, NC 28213.
City Startup Labs said ReConnex will open in May. The space is in Charlotte’s Sugar Creek Road/Interstate 85 corridor, which is designated as one of Charlotte’s six Corridors of Opportunity. Those corridors are specified as areas with historical underinvestment and lack of access to capital.
City Startup Labs plans to eventually open ReConnex locations in the other five corridors.
ReConnex will operate as a cooperative, meaning employees — trained through CSL’s programs — will not only provide repair services for digital devices but will also share in ownership and decision-making responsibilities.
“It’s an opportunity for the co-owners/staff to engage in a business startup along with City Startup Labs rather than undertaking a venture on their own,” Henry Rock, executive director of CSL, told CBJ. “It also provides them with a chance to be involved in a new industry where they are receiving skills and industry recognized credentials that they otherwise would not have had.”
The initiative expands upon CSL’s ReEntry Entrepreneurship Program (REEP), which equips formerly incarcerated individuals with the tools and support to start businesses and build stable careers. Through ReConnex, participants will receive hands-on training in digital tech support and customer service, as well as cooperative business operations.
In collaboration with iFixAmerica, a tech repair company based in Omaha, the CSL team will be traveling for in-depth, on-the-ground training to ensure staff are prepared to launch the shop with both technical and managerial expertise, the incubator said.
Rock emphasized that ReConnex is as much about maintaining digital access as it is about fostering economic opportunity. He pointed to organizations such as Davidson nonprofit E2D (Eliminate the Digital Divide) that have provided thousands of computers within the corridor.
“These devices, as well as cell phones, will need repair,” Rock said. “The devices are typically not serviceable within (corridor) communities because there is not an affordable reliable business service offering. We want to provide this service and tech support opportunity and provide access where it otherwise doesn’t exist.”
The venture is funded through a Digital Champions grant from the North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s Office of Digital Opportunity. CSL was among 63 North Carolina entities to receive grant funding through the program, which awarded more than $30 million to organizations working to grow digital equity across North Carolina.
“This grant allows us to take an idea that I’ve had for many years and bring it to fruition,” he said.
Rock established CSL in 2014 to share valuable education tools and resources with aspiring Black entrepreneurs. In February 2024, the organization moved its office from UNC Charlotte’s main campus in northeast Charlotte to Central Piedmont Community College’s Central Campus.
