What Happened?
An economic development organization in Topeka plans to build a business facility to provide blossoming entrepreneurs with space and technology to support new commercial ideas and economic development. The facility will receive funding through a countywide half-cent sales tax.
Goal
Go Topeka, an economic development organization in Kansas, plans to build a “712 Innovations” business development facility to nurture entrepreneurialism in the community. The space would be filled with business-oriented resources and tools, including the latest technologies to turn ideas into business plans.
Go Topeka is working with local business partners to raise capital, as well as asking the Joint Economic Development Organization (JEDO) to provide $156,024 in support. The JEDO consists of representatives from the city of Topeka and Shawnee County. The organization manages $14 million in annual revenue derived from the half-cent sales tax in Shawnee County, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. The JEDO has a history of providing financial support for projects involving small businesses, entrepreneurs and minority-owned companies.
The total start-up cost for 712 Innovations is estimated to be around $257,724. Thus far, Go Topeka has collected $101,700 in contributions and grants. To run the facility, lease the space to business professionals and raise funds, Go Topeka has created one full-time position and one part-time position. The group estimates the facility will have an annual budget of around $150,000 – half of which would come from user memberships and sponsors, while the rest would be generated from the half-cent sales tax.
The Space
Go Topeka aims to generate revenue from user memberships to the “Think Space.” The facility would offer users co-work space where office equipment and resources will be shared. 712 Innovations will also house “markerspace” where users can access professional and creative tools and technology for designing products and plans, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Depending on how much access the user desires, memberships can cost between $30-$300 per month:
- Access to a conference room and dedicated office space for professional users in need of a long-term site for business activities
- Access to an open, creative shared office space for day-to-day use
- Access to markerspace for product design and development
Membership options can be broken down into three categories: professional, regular and part-time.
The Accelerators
The U.S. Small Business Administration has named the winners of its Growth Accelerator Fund competition aiming to spur entrepreneurial growth at the local level. Similar to the Go Topeka initiative, the competition will award $50,000 to business accelerators and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models with a strong business plan but limited access to sources of capital such as venture capitalists. The $50,000 grant is intended to provide winners with funds covering operating budgets.
Boston’s Smarter in the City accelerator was one of the 50 winners. Located in Dudley Square, the accelerator provides qualified startups with:
- $5,000
- 6 months of free office space
- Educational tools
- Veteran industry mentorship from organizations like Google and Fiksu
Smarter in the City will collect and report performance data - such as money raised, jobs created and startups launched – to the SBA.
Building Up Business
Gov1 has kept a close eye on economic development projects, many of which received federal funding to get off and running.