The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity Opens
Media Contacts
Tom Stewart
(517) 862-3251
tstewart@comwent.com
Paul Jaques
(517) 256-9285
jaques@msu.edu
PRESS RELEASE
The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity Opens
Nine small businesses move operations into the City of Lansing’s first business incubator
Lansing, Mich. – November 7, 2011 – The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity (NEO Center) announces that on Monday, Nov. 7, nine tenants will move into the City of Lansing’s first business incubator, located at 934 Clark St. The NEO Center project, an L3C organization, was created in partnership with Kincaid Henry Building Group and is the first private-public partnership with the Ingham County Land Bank. A grand opening celebration is planned for 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8.
“The NEO Center has been a two-year project for our team and represents exactly the kind of place the entrepreneurial movement in Lansing needs,” said Tom Stewart, CEO of the Center for New Enterprise Opportunity. “What makes this project unique is the cooperation from the seven founding members. With their support and volunteerism, we have built a foundation for small businesses to thrive.”
The NEO Center has 21 spaces available for lease, a membership-based co-working space and a business incubation program for new businesses. Prices for the permanent space range from $180 - $450/month.
Co-working memberships will be $100/month and $50/month for students. Ten spaces, which already have been leased, are filled with tenants across the service sector who need an affordable space and a collaborative environment. Some of the first tenants also will take advantage of the three-year business incubation curriculum. The first tenants to sign leases with the NEO Center include:
Kincaid-Henry Building Group has relocated its headquarters to the Kincaid Henry Group/ NEO Center Building to reflect the core beliefs of their development and construction business.
“We believed in this project from the start and knew that Kincaid Henry was the right partner for the NEO Center group,” said Ryan Henry, chief operations officer for Kincaid Henry Building Group. “We created a project that represented who we were as a company and showed our commitment to helping other entrepreneurs.”
The Kincaid Henry/NEO Center Building started its life as a bakery that later became a print shop working on a large Oldsmobile contract. At the time the property went into foreclosure, it housed an Internet business. The building is a redevelopment of a tax-foreclosed property that used accelerated Brownfield Tax Increment Finance reimbursements through the Land Bank and the Ingham County Brownfield Authority.
"The Ingham County Land Bank and Brownfield Authority are proud to be part of the private-public partnership that made the NEO Center dream a reality in the Northtown Neighborhood in Lansing," said Eric Schertzing, Ingham County Treasurer and Land Bank Chair.
In Michigan, 84 percent of incubator businesses stay in the community after graduation from the incubator program, and an additional 9 percent stay in the state. The NEO Center joins the more than 1,115 business incubators across the United States, according to the Michigan Business Incubator Association.
NEO Center was created in response to the growing need for an environment that supports small business ecology and that is unhindered by the existing boundaries. The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity will promote sustainable economic development and prevent community deterioration.
The NEO Center’s mission is to foster creativity and entrepreneurship by offering an environment and infrastructure that cultivates small businesses through unique collaboration opportunities, affordable space and support services for growing ventures to expand to the Greater Lansing community. Information about the Center for New Enterprise Opportunity is available at: www.neocenter.org or on Facebook and Twitter.
NEO Center’s founding board members:
Tom Stewart
(517) 862-3251
tstewart@comwent.com
Paul Jaques
(517) 256-9285
jaques@msu.edu
PRESS RELEASE
The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity Opens
Nine small businesses move operations into the City of Lansing’s first business incubator
Lansing, Mich. – November 7, 2011 – The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity (NEO Center) announces that on Monday, Nov. 7, nine tenants will move into the City of Lansing’s first business incubator, located at 934 Clark St. The NEO Center project, an L3C organization, was created in partnership with Kincaid Henry Building Group and is the first private-public partnership with the Ingham County Land Bank. A grand opening celebration is planned for 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8.
“The NEO Center has been a two-year project for our team and represents exactly the kind of place the entrepreneurial movement in Lansing needs,” said Tom Stewart, CEO of the Center for New Enterprise Opportunity. “What makes this project unique is the cooperation from the seven founding members. With their support and volunteerism, we have built a foundation for small businesses to thrive.”
The NEO Center has 21 spaces available for lease, a membership-based co-working space and a business incubation program for new businesses. Prices for the permanent space range from $180 - $450/month.
Co-working memberships will be $100/month and $50/month for students. Ten spaces, which already have been leased, are filled with tenants across the service sector who need an affordable space and a collaborative environment. Some of the first tenants also will take advantage of the three-year business incubation curriculum. The first tenants to sign leases with the NEO Center include:
- LinkedIn
- UZoom Media
- Dewitt Creativity Group
- The Rockstar Factory
- McShane Photography
- ShirtMob
- John Tuma, Marketing Consultant
- Chad Kotrba, Attorney
Kincaid-Henry Building Group has relocated its headquarters to the Kincaid Henry Group/ NEO Center Building to reflect the core beliefs of their development and construction business.
“We believed in this project from the start and knew that Kincaid Henry was the right partner for the NEO Center group,” said Ryan Henry, chief operations officer for Kincaid Henry Building Group. “We created a project that represented who we were as a company and showed our commitment to helping other entrepreneurs.”
The Kincaid Henry/NEO Center Building started its life as a bakery that later became a print shop working on a large Oldsmobile contract. At the time the property went into foreclosure, it housed an Internet business. The building is a redevelopment of a tax-foreclosed property that used accelerated Brownfield Tax Increment Finance reimbursements through the Land Bank and the Ingham County Brownfield Authority.
"The Ingham County Land Bank and Brownfield Authority are proud to be part of the private-public partnership that made the NEO Center dream a reality in the Northtown Neighborhood in Lansing," said Eric Schertzing, Ingham County Treasurer and Land Bank Chair.
In Michigan, 84 percent of incubator businesses stay in the community after graduation from the incubator program, and an additional 9 percent stay in the state. The NEO Center joins the more than 1,115 business incubators across the United States, according to the Michigan Business Incubator Association.
NEO Center was created in response to the growing need for an environment that supports small business ecology and that is unhindered by the existing boundaries. The Center for New Enterprise Opportunity will promote sustainable economic development and prevent community deterioration.
The NEO Center’s mission is to foster creativity and entrepreneurship by offering an environment and infrastructure that cultivates small businesses through unique collaboration opportunities, affordable space and support services for growing ventures to expand to the Greater Lansing community. Information about the Center for New Enterprise Opportunity is available at: www.neocenter.org or on Facebook and Twitter.
NEO Center’s founding board members:
- Tom Stewart
- Paul Jaques
- Erik Larson
- Jennifer Middlin
- Robin Miner-Swartz
- Dan Ryan
- Chris VanWyck
