Face Off: Charleston entrepreneurs find room to grow
Key points:
- • Navy Yard Industrial Campus refilled space left by “graduating” tenants with design-forward manufacturers while maritime demand reached new heights.
- • The Harbor Entrepreneur Center now houses more than 130 companies and is expanding programming to founders at the ideation stage.
- • Both leaders say density and proximity drive collaboration, turning neighbors into a resource for Charleston entrepreneurs.
October 2026 — Charleston’s economy has long been built on making things. The former Navy base that once anchored regional employment now houses shipyards, fabricators, and design studios. A few miles away, a new generation of Charleston entrepreneurs is turning kitchen-table ideas into AI-assisted prototypes. These businesses look very different, but they share the same needs: affordable space, practical support, and neighbors who can help when something breaks.
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The appetite for starting something is clear. South Carolina recorded about 94,104 new business applications in 2025, the second-highest total on record and roughly 83% above 2019, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau business formation data. Locally, the Charleston Regional Development Alliance’s 2026 Charleston Region Innovation Scorecard counts 18,372 new business applications filed in the region in 2024, an increase of 151.7% over the past decade. The scorecard also places Charleston among the top 50 U.S. metros for venture capital deal count. Starting a company, however, is only the first step. Carrying it from launch to scale takes space, support, and the right neighbors.
Elias Deeb, CEO of Navy Yard Industrial Campus, and Grady Johnson, executive director of The Harbor Entrepreneur Center, represent two different models for supporting Charleston entrepreneurs. Deeb leases about two million square feet of industrial space on a former Navy base and historic shipyard. Johnson runs a nonprofit hub where more than 130 companies share 64,000 square feet. One serves makers who need riveted steel and waterfront access. The other serves founders who need mentors down the hall. Together, they make the case that in Charleston, proximity is its own kind of infrastructure.
How have your organizations changed over the past two years?
Elias Deeb, CEO, Navy Yard Industrial Campus: Our core business is leasing industrial real estate on about 100 acres of a former Navy base and historic shipyard dating to the early 1900s. We have approximately two million square feet of buildings, piers, wharves, and industrial space, and our occupancy rate stays high. Tenants often remain for many years once they settle on Campus.
Over the past 18 to 24 months, however, three longtime companies moved into larger spaces. I call those moves graduations. Some companies started with us more than a decade ago with two or three employees and left with 350. Urban Electric relocated and freed about 70,000 square feet, the Bourne Group moved out, and Smithey Ironware recently decided to graduate into a larger space. Together, those changes opened a few hundred thousand square feet.
Grady Johnson, Executive Director, The Harbor Entrepreneur Center: The big news for us at The Harbor Entrepreneur Center is that we continue to expand. We now occupy 64,000 square feet. We have more than 130 companies under our roof. That makes us one of the three largest entrepreneur centers in the Southeast and one of the 10 largest in the nation in terms of size and number of companies under one roof.
When we talk about the building, it is not a real estate deal for us. It is a program. We do not call the companies here tenants; they are residents. We support them so they do not have to worry about real estate while they are at an earlier stage. We offer flexible terms rather than tying anyone to a long-term lease, and the pricing is below market.
Which companies are driving demand right now?
Deeb: Our core sector remains maritime. It is driven largely by ship repair and the ancillary businesses that support a ship repair operation. Detyens Shipyards is our largest tenant by footprint and serves as our anchor tenant. Commercial shipping and the Department of Defense are driving that business to new heights.
We also saw significant demand from design-forward companies that remain in manufacturing, maritime, and logistics but operate on the creative side. Examples include a studio that designs and builds high-end furniture, an ironwork shop that pairs traditional blacksmithing with contemporary design, and a custom fabrication company that produces touring theatrical sets and event installations. I tell people, if you make or fix something, you’re a great fit. These companies are heavy in design and innovation, but at their core, they are manufacturers. We made significant capital investments to accommodate them, and we are full again.
Johnson: We surveyed our residents, and I had a vision of displaying the industries in a pie chart. When we received the survey results, the chart looked like a kaleidoscope. It was useless because there were so many businesses and business models here. In years past, you could classify a company as technology. Now everybody is technology.
An interesting trend is that AI allows nontechnical founders to vibe-code minimum viable products. An MVP used to be a huge barrier. Years ago, we saw nontechnical founders make the cardinal mistake of spending five or six figures on a digital platform that had not been market-tested. That was the death of them. Now it is relatively easy to vibe-code something and take it to market for testing. A vibe-coded product will not scale without a next step, but it can be market-tested much more easily. Entrepreneurs are becoming more nimble as a result.
How does putting so many companies side by side create value?
Deeb: The Campus is dense. We have around 40 companies and about two million square feet on 100 acres, so there is not much elbow room. It’s a real community. You can’t help but run into your neighbors, and that’s where the best collaborations start.
Need extra lay-down space? We can point you to a neighbor who has some available. Forklift breaks down on a Saturday morning with a job due out the door? With about 100 forklifts on Campus, a quick phone call usually solves it. Most of this happens organically, through word of mouth, chance encounters, and tenants calling us when they need a hand.
Johnson: Getting everybody together under one roof creates an atmosphere of peer-to-peer advising. The building contains a significant sample of the ecosystem under one roof, so we can provide all kinds of peer relationships and advisers simply through proximity.
If you have a question, there is a good chance your neighbor has an answer. In a normal commercial real estate setting, it might be strange to knock on a neighbor’s door and ask what the company does. Here, it is encouraged. Office doors are open, people walk around, and they know resources are down the hall.
Where are you focusing your growth over the next few years?
Deeb: We still have more than half a million square feet yet to be occupied because we are careful about how we develop. Over the next two, three, or four years, we will slowly and thoughtfully redevelop that existing space. We also have about eight acres on the northern portion of the property and will begin transitioning into new construction. Since the company was founded, we have not built a new building.
We are also conscious of what is happening around our 100 acres. There is intense planning and interest in mixed-use development, which is not what we do. Mixing uses this closely can create friction, but we are prepared to navigate those conversations. If we get it right, this could be an area in Charleston where you can live without owning a car, or where a car is at least optional. There’s a real opportunity here to create a true 21st-century community where people live and work.
Johnson: In the past, we focused mainly on founders who already had a minimum viable product and were taking it to market. That was our sweet spot for many years. Now we are adding programming at the beginning of the funnel, when someone is at the ideation stage, to help that person move from an idea to a minimum viable product. We should be able to serve three or four times the number of founders because the largest pool consists of people trying to figure out how to move from the kitchen table to the market.
It is also important to help people decide that they are not ready yet. Entrepreneurs are often willing to take risks and plunge into things. If they plunge too soon, it could be the only plunge they take. This cannot simply be an online class. Entrepreneurship is a contact sport.
What gives Charleston entrepreneurs an edge?
Deeb: Before the Navy base closed, the U.S. Navy was Charleston’s primary employer. When the base closed in the mid-1990s, there was economic panic about replacing those jobs and employing thousands of technically competent people. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. That moment marked the birth of the state and region’s manufacturing boom.
Our quality of life is second to none, and it is easy to attract talent to South Carolina, especially Charleston. The city’s historic nature also attracts an entrepreneurial, creative, and inventive mindset. We are beginning to see the benefit as the economy becomes more knowledge-based and technology-focused.
Johnson: Being in the Charleston region, we are extraordinarily fortunate. We do not have to spend time recruiting people to the area. People come for a visit or vacation, fall in love with Charleston, and return later to stay. Many exited entrepreneurs move here and then look for something meaningful to do.
We can take advantage of talent coming from other places and create one-to-one mentoring relationships with young companies. Entrepreneurs rarely do this only once. They often start another business or help other entrepreneurs, so mentoring gives experienced founders a way to help young companies grow.
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