Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI²) is launching a new pilot initiative designed to strengthen rural arts organizations across Middle Georgia.

Beginning this March in Perry, Georgia, EI² will launch the Georgia Arts Innovation Network (GAIN), a six-month pilot program that supports arts-related nonprofits and businesses through capacity building, technology adoption, business strategy, and placemaking. Funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the program is open to arts organizations and creative businesses in Perry, Houston County, and surrounding Middle Georgia counties.

GAIN is the first EI² program dedicated specifically to the arts and reflects Georgia Tech’s broader commitment to serving communities statewide through creativity, innovation, and economic development. According to Jason Freeman, the initiative also creates opportunities to strengthen arts-based partnerships across Georgia and inform future collaborations, including work connected to Georgia Tech Arts and the Creative Quarter.

The pilot is supported in partnership with the Georgia Council for the Arts and aims to develop a model that could be expanded to other regions of the state.

Recruitment for the inaugural GAIN cohort begins in February.

Read the full Enterprise Innovation Institute article.