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GREENSBORO — The Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship is $200,000 closer to being able to move into a new building at South Elm-Eugene Street and Florida Street.

“It’s not getting us to the golden ring, but it certainly adds a significant amount of legitimacy,” said Sam Funchess, the center’s president and CEO.

The center took ownership of the donated Carolina Steel building last fall. All told, it will take $4 million to renovate the building and move in. About half of that will come from federal matching funds, Funchess said.

That leaves the center with about $2 million to raise on its own, minus $200,000 that Golden LEAF has agreed to chip in. Golden LEAF is a trust fund created from the state’s share of a settlement with tobacco companies. It fosters economic development projects in rural and economically distressed areas.

“The board of directors was especially impressed with the center’s track record and the fact that most of these businesses remain in the state and employ our citizens,” said Dan Gerlach, president of the foundation.

Funchess said more than 180 businesses have struck out on their own and kept operating after getting help from the center over the past 22 years. There are 66 businesses in the center’s existing space on Yanceyville Street.

The center needs to move sometime in the next four to nine years, he said, because its lease is expiring. In reality, the center needs to move even more quickly, Funchess said, because it cannot afford to keep paying both its current rent and costs associated with the new location.

As well as giving the center a permanent home, the new space would allow it to serve different types of businesses, particularly manufacturers. Funchess said that although they’ve talked to cabinet makers and the like, the noise from such business would be disruptive to other center clients who need a quieter environment.

Funchess said that in addition to grants, he’s hoping the city, county and state governments will help pay for some of the renovation costs.

“We’re probably one of the safer bets in this economy,” Funchess said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com