New incubator space to support small business in North Manchester
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(rendering courtesy of Manchester Alive)
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(rendering courtesy of Manchester Alive)
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(rendering courtesy of Manchester Alive)
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(rendering courtesy of Manchester Alive)
The chamber of commerce and main street foundation for the city of North Manchester is building out a new space designed to support local businesses and bolster the city’s downtown.
Manchester Alive: Main Street Chamber Alliance is in the midst of renovating a Main Street storefront to create The Coop, a small business incubator and remote coworking hub.
The organization says The Coop will offer services to help entrepreneurs bring their business ideas to reality, as well as a retail aspect that gives new business owners a chance to establish themselves.
Manchester Alive Executive Director Heather Cruz told Inside INdiana Business one goal of the hub is help keep high school and Manchester University graduates in the city.
“It really is a fantastic small town, and we want to capture a lot of that brainpower that’s coming from the schools,” Cruz said. “I have three board members that are actually university students who came in from other communities, fell in love with our community and stayed after university. That shows me that we have things to offer, and startup and entrepreneurship is such a big part of the future economy that we wanted a place so we could support that.”
The organization is partnering with the Northeast Indiana Innovation Collaborative, or NIIC, and other local professionals to provide business services such as financial planning, business development, insurance, and marketing.
The street level floor of the building will include the Manchester Alive offices, as well as several retail units available for rent, providing opportunities for new businesses.
“Each retail space here will function as their own business,” said Cruz. “They will staff it. They’ll have their own point of sale. They’ll have their own hours [and] access to the building to get here whenever they’d like to.”
In the lower level of the building, there will be nine remote coworking offices, a shared business space, and a conference room.
Cruz said there is a demand for a space like The Coop because there isn’t anything like it currently in Wabash County.
“We’ve had a couple of meetings with countywide entrepreneurs, and they just talked about not having a place to come together and collaborate,” she said. “You get minds like that together that are building businesses and great ideas come from them just sitting and talking together. So I think the demand is great, because we already have a lot of great business.”
The project has an estimated $250,000 price tag, and Manchester Alive continues to raise funds. The company has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Patronicity seeking $50,000. If the goal is reached by its April 2 deadline, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority will provide a $50,000 match through its CreatINg Places program.
The organization has raised $850 through the campaign as of midday Monday.
“With Patronicity and the IHCDA match, we were hoping that that just puts the bow on our project, and then it’s able to wrap up after those funds,” Cruz said.
Ultimately, Cruz said her hope for The Coop is that it helps bring new life to the business community in North Manchester.
“We want to able to look out into our community and see those businesses and say, “Hey, The Coop helped get them started and that was a real entry point for them to make this happen, and look at them now. They’re building and expanding on the west side of town and putting a new building up. Those will be some of those measurable outcomes that would be very exciting.”
Manchester Alive is targeting the end of March for completion of the project, though Cruz said they hope to cut the ribbon on The Coop ahead of the city’s “Second Fridays” program that starts in June.