STERLING HEIGHTS ? A new business incubator has opened – Macomb-OU INCubator – at Velocity Center is targeting defense-related businesses, business in software, advanced manufacturing, robotics and renewable energy.
Julie M. Gustafson, the new executive director of the incubator, said several clients have already moved in where rents start at $185 a month for an office cubicle, and range up to $1,300 a month for a 1,500-square-foot space. But most spaces are in the $500-to-$800 a month for spaces of 550 to 900 square feet. All rents include common-area amenities like conference rooms, Internet access, mail service, access to copiers and phone lines, and desktop support.
Because the incubator is affiliated with Oakland University, rents also include access to Oakland U professors and labs, as well as access to student interns.
The building is a former Ford-UAW preschool that was donated to Macomb County in 2010. Construction work to transform the building into a business incubator took about a year, and the building formally opened as an incubator last fall.
The building is also home to the Michigan Center for Defense, which has moved its operations here from Lansing. And the Sterling Heights economic development office, the Macomb County economic development and planning office, and the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Centers also have staffed offices at the incubator to help tenants with their business.
Current tenants include a company whose product is a hydrogen kit that is capable of boosting efficency for 18-wheelers, a military vehicle software developer, a paint additive developer and a wind energy developer. Also onsite is a full-time caterer, Kosch Catering, and a couple of beautiful meeting spaces ? a 1,211-square-foot ?Innovation Lab? conference room that holds 35, and a 2,931-square-foot ?Collaboration Center? public meeting hall that holds up to 140.
The incubator also provides its clients ? whether they?re physical tenants or not ? a wide variety of business support services. Included are volunteer business advisory board members who are experts in various industries, access to capital, and a variety of training events and courses.
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