The City of Greer fuels a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across the state, but the work starts here at home.
“We’re a 26-year-old family-owned label printing company we have 28 employees five presses and so far this year. We’ve done over 175 million labels to customers all over the country.”
Ben Waldrop is the President and Co-owner of Century Printing and Packaging. He recently participated in The Platform at Greer Bootcamp, an intense entrepreneurship program run by the city’s economic development team.
“I was very impressed with the level of coaching and mentors. They were very focused on what my particular needs needed to be.”
Bootcamp cohorts are typically a mix of big and small companies, but Waldrop’s class focused on more mature companies planning to launch a new product or service.
“We have created over a 2 1/2 year process a software package that we believe could be marketed to other manufacturing companies.”
Bootcamp is an intense, two-day sprint, but The Platform at Greer also hosts free monthly events for entrepreneurs to stay connected and find support. Something Waldrop says is crucial for entrepreneurs at any stage.
“We feel like reinforcement of us, as the local business and manufacturer has always been very positive.”
Waldrop encourages business owners to get on board with The Platform at Greer.
“I think it is a great showcase for what the community can do for a business."
The Platform at Greer's next bootcamp event begins February 29th at 4PM.