The Jack Morton Business Accelerator Center will be located adjacent to the Texas Wesleyan Community Counseling Center on E. Rosedale St.

Texas Wesleyan’s plans to open a business accelerator center on E. Rosedale are getting closer to becoming a reality.

The University recently received a green light from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the City of Fort Worth to move forward with the project. All of the environmental and historic preservations reviews were approved, and the University is now working with HUD to release funding to the project.

The Jack Morton Business Accelerator Center on E. Rosedale is scheduled to be complete in the fall of 2016.

The center will be located at 3114 E. Rosedale Street, which is adjacent to the Texas Wesleyan Community Counseling Center. It is part of a block of retail space that the university acquired in 2014, and complements the thriving Rosedale Renaissance along E. Rosedale.

“The Rosedale Renaissance continues to revitalize our neighborhood and the business accelerator will bring another economic boon to the intersection,” Frederick G. Slabach, President of Texas Wesleyan University, said. “We’ve created a critical thinking hub in Southeast Fort Worth – a place where academia is extended to support our community. The business accelerator center is the next big step.”

Led by Texas Wesleyan’s School of Business students and faculty, the center will initially focus on providing market research and analysis for Southeast Fort Worth that will be shared with prospective businesses seeking to enter the business community.

“The center will actively engage our business students – undergraduates and MBA – with the community to solve real-world business problems and help local entrepreneurs meet their small business needs,” Hector Quintanilla, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Business Administration, said.

Once the building designs are finalized, the university will submit the plans to the City of Fort Worth for approval and secure the proper permits to begin renovations. The interior will have a reception area, conference room and workspace.

The business accelerator had originally been planned for the renovated Polytechnic Firehouse, located next to the new United Methodist Church Central Texas Conference Service Center. Due to funding, timing and location, Texas Wesleyan decided to move the university art department into the Polytechnic Firehouse and locate the business accelerator center to a retail space location on E. Rosedale.

The Rosedale Renaissance is a key part of Texas Wesleyan’s 2020 Vision strategic plan to enhance the campus and revitalize the community.