Every year, young Alabamians with big ideas make the same calculation: stay and struggle to find your people, or leave for Atlanta, Nashville, or somewhere with a more established startup scene. A new statewide program called Unlock Alabama is betting they don’t have to make that choice.

Backed by a $300,000 grant from Innovate Alabama and built by Mobile-based nonprofit Innovation Portal, Unlock Alabama is a free, eight-week online cohort designed for Alabama residents between the ages of 18 and 29 who want to build something, whether that’s a business, a product, or just a new way of thinking about a problem. Applications are open now and will remain so through the end of April. The cohort kicks off in May.

“The entire intention is to connect with young potential entrepreneurs in Alabama,” said Brooks Conkle, head of community for the program. “A lot of them are leaving, and they’re going to bigger cities for other opportunities. They feel like they have to move to Atlanta or Nashville, or even out to California or up to New York, to build what they’re trying to work on.”

It is a pattern that has played out across smaller and mid-sized cities throughout the South for years. Young talent graduates or enters the workforce, looks around for a network or a community that matches their ambitions, and when they do not find it, they go somewhere that has one.

Unlock Alabama is designed to interrupt that cycle before it starts.

Conkle and two other team members built the program over the past several months, drawing on curricula from nationally recognized programs including Build Space and Builders and Backers. The result is what they’re calling a cohort built around accountability, mentorship, and community, all free of charge for accepted participants.

Participation does not require a business idea, a college enrollment, or even an Alabama address, though the program’s core mission is rooted in keeping young in-state talent from heading elsewhere. Weekly live calls will be scheduled around the cohort’s availability, and all sessions will be recorded for those who cannot attend live.

The program already ran a pilot with five interns to test the curriculum. One of them built a 3D printed EpiPen case.

Alongside the builder cohort, Unlock Alabama is also recruiting “Guides,” which is the program’s term for mentors. Experienced entrepreneurs and professionals interested in sharing knowledge and feedback with participants can apply on the website.

The program is also seeking corporate sponsors, which Conkle sees as an opportunity for Alabama companies to get an early look at emerging local talent, potentially with an eye toward future hiring.

The cohort wraps up with the Builder Summit, an in-person event scheduled for July 17 and 18 in Mobile. Cohort members will have the chance to showcase what they built, connect with investors, and network with other Alabama builders. It is the kind of visibility that program organizers hope will make staying in Alabama feel less like a compromise and more like a real option.

Innovation Portal, the organization behind the program, is a nonprofit incubator and innovation hub focused on accelerating startup growth along the Gulf Coast. The organization wrote the grant proposal to Innovate Alabama that made Unlock Alabama possible, and has built a track record supporting early-stage entrepreneurs in the region through programming, industry collaboration, and community development services.

Applications and additional information are available at unlockalabama.org.