United Way of Rowan County announced the plans for the opening of their new “HUB: A Center for Collaboration” building during a fundraiser at the STL Club Thursday. The new building will serve as a central office, meeting and support space for nonprofits from all areas of Rowan County and serving all areas of need for charities and local businesses.

“We found that more than 50 percent of the non-profits in this community need some sort of space. Typically, they may have office space but they have to pack everything up and go to a boardroom. Or if they want to host an event, they’ve got to pay for that space,” said Executive Director Jenny Lee.

The new HUB building will act as a solution to bringing together the many needs of the non-profits of Rowan County under one roof. There will be shared event spaces, office spaces and areas for workshops in the 25,000 square feet of space the building will provide. This will help the non-profits keep overhead prices down, freeing up money to use in their work according to Lee.

Up to 25 nonprofits will be able to use the communal space at one time and Unite Way plans to be able to house up to 10 nonprofits’ office space at one time, according to Philanthropy Director Audrey Eudy.

“I love to think of the HUB as a vine on a trellis. When you think of nonprofits that grow like ours, they pop up all over the place and some continue to grow upward, some grow outwards, some grow this way and that way. Add a trellis to it, and suddenly they have direction. Suddenly they start to depend on each other… I love the fact that we expect to go to a multi-story building because it helps me visualize that trellis very easily and all of those nonprofits on the first floor growing up together,” said Steve Fisher, a member of United Way’s board of directors.

The new building will be located in the Oestreicher building at 122 S. Main St. The building was purchased by local businessman David Post in September of 2019 and has been the location of Growing Pains Consignment Shop recently.

If everything goes according to plan, United Way hopes to have the phase one of the fundraising and building process completed by the end of 2024, said Lee.

For more information or to make a donation, contact Unite Way at 704-633-1802.