The dream has been a long time coming, but after years of planning and building community partnerships,
The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity, or NEO Center, is becoming reality.
Work is beginning on the former Clark Street print shop that will house the Center. The 8,600 square foot facility will now be renovated into a LEED certified business incubator including space for 21 businesses, co-working space, conference rooms, a workout center and office space for building owners and contractors
Kincaid Henry.“The
Ingham County Land Bank was critical in making this happen,” says Ryan Henry, COO of Kincaid Henry. The Land Bank originally purchased the property and facilitated the financing package that made the NEO Center project possible.
But as exciting as the building itself sounds, the real news is what will take place inside the NEO Center walls.
Tenants of the center won’t simply have a space to test out a start up, but will be a
part of a three-year program designed to train, monitor and develop the businesses to be ready to strike out on their own.
“We want to help manage their transition,” says NEO Center president Tom Stewart. “We want to create the environment that failure isn’t a bad thing. It's OK to fail, we just want you to fail fast and learn from it.” Kincaid Henry projects the total investment into the project will reach $750,000. The NEO Center is currently accepting applications and plans to begin opening office space and co-working space by June.
Source: Tom Stewart and Robin Miner-Swartz, NEO Center; Ryan Henry, Kincaid Henry
Writer: Natalie Burg, News Editor
Before photo and rendering of future building courtesy of Kincaid Henry
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