New businesses get a fighting chance at Green Book historic site in Myrtle Beach

Self established “jack of all trades” and Myrtle Beach native, Jay Burgess, has seen his business grow over the past year after utilizing the incubator units that Charlie’s Place established a year ago.

Charlie’s Place, a historical site owned by the City of Myrtle Beach, established these units to encourage start-up businesses to rent out office units in order to grow. The site was once apart of the original Green Book, a travel safety guide for African Americans in the Jim Crow era.

Burgess owns Naomi Productions, a conglomerate of different creative services, including videography, recording, production and recording transfers. His unit at Charlie’s Place mostly serves as place for his variety of recording equipment, and a place to meet with clients.

Burgess said that the program at Charlie’s Place is needed to bring the community together.

“There are a lot of people who are creative, but they don’t want to work together. It’s one of the biggest problems in this community,” Burgess said. “With Neighborhood Services, we try to bridge that gap. You’d be amazed at how many people in this community have a lot of knowledge. But they die with it.”

Burgess, 56, offers a variety of services to clients through Naomi Productions as well as his business, The Production Warehouse, that range from live videography of baseball games, to commercials to digitalizing old records.

While Burgess doesn’t claim to be an expert in one specific field, he has a lifetime of experience and curiosity.

“When I talk to people, I tell them I’m always learning. I’m a constant student,” Burgess said.

Charlie’s Place, located at 1420 Carver Street, offers four incubator units at a discounted price. For residents in the city of Myrtle Beach, the price is $250 per month, and for non-residents, it’s $450. A minimum of a year-long lease is required, as well as a business license.

Alfreda Funnye, Neighborhood Services Coordinator, said that the business incubator program has done well since it opened in the beginning of 2021. Currently, three of the four incubator units are filled and the last one is vacant.

“We find that service based businesses work better than foot traffic. The most foot traffic we get is when we have an event. People don’t just drive up here to come,” Funnye said.

Charlie’s Place is also home to S and N Crafts and Things, which is an art studio, and Bree and Lex Beauty Affair LLC., a makeup studio.

This story was originally published June 22, 2022 at 6:50 AM.