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Member Portal Student Portal Faculty & Staff Give to Hampton
OCTOBER 13, 2026

Welcome to the new WDE Experience!

Hampton University’s Workforce Development Enterprise (WDE) is launching a new website and reservation experience at www.huwde.org. Everything WDE offers across its four locations is now in one place, and you can book the rooms, machines, and venue you need right from your phone.

Whether you want to start a new career, build skills for your current one, or grow your own business, the new site makes it easier to find your pathway and get started.

One enterprise, four locations

The site is organized around WDE’s four centers, each with its own color. Any course, machine, workshop, or booking tagged with a location tells you exactly where you’ll be.

  • Suite 1002 · D-AIX (Digital–AI Immersive Experience Academy): A local AI lab, AI-avatar capture rooms, a virtual production studio, a sound studio, a photography room, and collaboration spaces. Record, film, and produce your content here, and use technology transfer to protect your ideas.
  • Suite 1100 · Center of Innovation & Entrepreneurship: A staffed makerspace with 26 machines, including 3D printers, laser cutters, garment printing, embroidery, sewing, production printing, vacuum forming, and book binding.
  • Suite 1400 · Culinary Arts & Business Networking Center: A full commercial teaching kitchen and an event venue that seats 250 (450 total capacity).
  • 303 Butler Farm Road · Community Health & Vocational Center: WDE’s training campus for HVAC, welding, nurse aide, forklift, propane technology, and more, with day and evening classes.

Your next event belongs in Suite 1400!

Some occasions call for more than a meeting room. Suite 1400 at 2 Eaton Street is WDE’s event venue in the heart of downtown Hampton. It has 11,550 square feet of space, seats 250 guests, and holds up to 450 in total.

Picture your guests arriving to warm light from brass-and-crystal ring chandeliers. They can gather in a lounge where floor-to-ceiling windows look out over Hampton University and the harbor, then settle in for dinner, a keynote, or a first dance. The venue is flexible enough for an elegant evening or a full day of business.

Suite 1400 is ready for:

  • Weddings and receptions: Say “I do,” toast the couple, and dance the night away with the waterfront as your backdrop.
  • Corporate events: Host conferences, awards dinners, board retreats, holiday parties, and networking events with room for your whole organization.
  • Celebrations and milestones: Mark anniversaries, graduations, galas, fundraisers, and community gatherings in a space that matches the moment.

Why plan your event here:

  • A real commercial kitchen on site. Suite 1400 also houses WDE’s full culinary training kitchen. 
  • Room to grow. You get 250 seated and 450 total, so you won’t be squeezed into a space that’s too small.
  • Easy arrivals. A parking garage is available for your guests.
  • A Hampton address with a view. You’re in downtown Hampton, steps from the waterfront.

Let’s start planning

Planning an event is now as simple as sending an inquiry. Share your date, expected guest count, and a few details about your event, and our team will follow up to talk through availability and next steps.

Book the venue → · Request a tour of the space →

Book a room by the hour

Suite 1002 rooms can now be reserved online. Pick the room and the hour, and you’re set. Bookings open up to 30 days in advance with a 2-hour minimum (Conference and Collaboration rooms are a one-hour minimum), and your reservation comes with access to the room. Some rooms have available add-on equipment beyond the basics.

Makerspace membership, simplified

Getting started in Suite 1100 takes three steps:

  1. Join. Apply for makerspace membership. Each month brings 15 credits, and one credit covers an hour on a machine or one workshop seat.
  2. Get certified. Each machine has one workshop covering safety and general use. Pass it once, and that machine stays unlocked for as long as your membership is active.
  3. Book and make. Reserve machines by the hour from any device. Staff are on the floor to help.

You can use the makerspace’s materials, billed per job, or bring your own to cut costs. Membership is open to adults 18 and up.

Train for a career

Browse 13 career pathways and more than 100 short-term courses. Each one is built for immediate employment in a high-demand field, with industry certifications and day or evening schedules. You can apply online. If a class hasn’t been scheduled yet, tap Notify me to hear when it opens.

From paper to prototype

Faculty, researchers, and founders with a commercial idea can request a 20-minute intake meeting to begin WDE’s 12-week path from concept to fundable prototype, offered with Hampton’s Department of Entrepreneurship.

Get started

Questions? Call (757) 964-6992 or email WDE@hamptonu.edu.

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