By Adam Pitts
Norcross Public Library
NORCROSS, Ga. | Serving time in jail or prison is traumatizing enough in its own right. However the obstacles inmates face after release—the “second sentence,” as it is collectively known—can have lifelong and life-altering consequences.
Pitts
From inadequate transportation and a lack of affordable housing to employment barriers and societal stigma, formerly incarcerated individuals contend with an array of challenges that makes moving on with life anything but straightforward.
Increasingly, people in this disadvantaged group are turning to entrepreneurship as an alternative to the traditional job market, where employment prospects are few and opportunities for advancement are virtually nonexistent for those with a criminal record. The Gwinnett County Public Library is one of 15 libraries selected nationally to spearhead the American Library Association’s Libraries Build Business initiative. This program launched the New Start Entrepreneurship Incubator (NSEI) in 2021 to support this growing but largely overlooked group of aspiring small business owners.
Coordinated by a team of five library staff, NSEI is a six-month course that covers the fundamentals of starting and running a small business. Cohorts of 15 to 20 students attend monthly presentations by local business experts on topics such as finance, marketing, licensing, and writing a business plan.
Following each meeting, they complete online coursework and receive one-on-one support from experienced small business mentors. To remove technology barriers, the library lends laptop and hotspot Entrepreneurship Kits to the students upon request. As an additional incentive, they are given an opportunity to pitch their business proposals to a Shark Tank-style judging panel to receive feedback and potentially obtain startup capital.
Two cohorts totaling 21 graduates have completed the program. The third cohort will begin later in July. Businesses started so far by people completing the program include a catering service, a hair and beauty boutique, plus an assisted living facility for veterans and other individuals transitioning from homelessness. The biggest company that began out of this program is a commercial and residential cleaning company with 14 employees, which has nearly 40 contracts from Gwinnett and Fulton counties.
Given NSEI’s success, it may come as a surprise that small business programming for the formerly incarcerated was a mostly unexplored facet of library services until recently. While several public libraries offer outreach to current inmates, there are few entrepreneurship courses, library-led or otherwise, designed exclusively for former inmates. It is an area that deserves more attention, especially considering the latent economic potential waiting to be uncovered.
Along with our other business resources, entrepreneur development initiatives such as NSEI underscore and show the importance of public libraries as catalysts for economic growth and job creation. Everyone is a library stakeholder in that regard, which is why our mission to serve the community is more relevant than ever.
To learn more about our programs and services, visit the library’s website at gwinnettpl.org.
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