source: The Post and Courier Columbia
COLUMBIA — A hub for Columbia technology-based startup companies is coming to Five Points, as a group of entrepreneurs continues its efforts to grow the Capital City’s tech sector.
Saluda Avenue in Columbia’s original village neighborhood will soon house office and gathering space for about 100 to 150 technology workers, thanks to a $1 million grant from the Darnall W. and Susan F. Boyd Foundation.
GrowCo, as the group of upstarts calls itself, has been working on the effort alongside Mapquest co-founder Chris Heivly since mid-2021, when Heivly was contracted by Richland County to help with its technology-focused economic development initiative.
“For the first time as a tech community, we have this multiyear run where we can just grow and not worry about how we’re going to keep things going from one month to the next,” said the group’s acting director and fellow entrepreneur, Joe Queenan. “It’s a luxury we’ve never had before.”