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GREENSBORO — A local entrepreneur incubator needs another strategy for raising the money to renovate its proposed new headquarters.

Earlier this month, Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship officials learned they did not get a federal grant that would have provided up to $1.4 million toward a $3.8 million new headquarters renovation.

Another $1.2 million portion of a renovation fund — a loan approved by the City Council earlier this year — was contingent on that matching grant.

The loss of the grant leaves the nonprofit without the cash to renovate the new location, with the proposed move-in date less than six months away.

Now, Nussbaum leaders are re-evaluating their options.

“Remember, failure is when we refuse to get up,” said Sam Funchess, president and CEO of the center.

The nonprofit leases space at Revolution Mill Studios off Yanceyville Street, which is then leased to startup businesses.

Revolution Mill owners hoped the nonprofit would move to the Carolina Steel office building on South Elm-Eugene Street, so the mill space could be renovated and leased at a higher rate.

The Carolina Steel building was donated to the nonprofit but will require repairs to make it accessible for disabled people.

The nonprofit hoped to get $1.4 million in U.S. Economic Development Administration, or EDA, grant money to pay for a large part of the renovation.

The City Council agreed to kick in another $1.2 million loan, assuming the Nussbaum Center got the grant.

The center hoped to get the renovation complete before the end of the year, when the landlord wanted the nonprofit to move.

Nussbaum officials have since learned that the EDA didn’t fund the project, in part because of the tight deadline to complete the renovation and because of the expense of repaying the city’s loan.

“It was just so tight, there was just no opportunity for error,” Funchess said of the nonprofit repaying the city loan.

The center also received a $200,000 grant from Golden LEAF, a trust fund created from the state’s share of a settlement with tobacco companies that is used for economic development projects.

But Funchess said the nonprofit can’t accept that money either until it sorts out the lease issue with Revolution Mill.

Funchess said the nonprofit will explore other options to make the renovation happen. He said the nonprofit could possibly use federal energy efficiency money to do some of the renovation or have items such as carpet donated.

Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight, who helped broker the   city loan, has begun calling state, local and philanthropic officials on behalf of the nonprofit, to find other funding options.

“We are not just going to roll over,” Funchess said. “We think there are still plenty of solutions.”

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com