Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque, proper, talks with Staples Connect’s Crew Supervisor Blake Big, remaining, and Standard Supervisor Jameson Rodrigues inside of the new coworking center in which a few business owners from a pool of candidates will get help with their startup, like a devoted no cost coworking area for 4 months, through the Startup Auburn opposition. Rodrigues is an Edward Small Substantial College graduate and mentioned he’s fired up about developing the enterprise in his hometown. Russ Dillingham/Sunshine Journal
The town of Auburn’s hottest financial growth initiative, an entrepreneurial incubator inside of a new Staples Connect retail retail store, could someday be replicated throughout the region, Mayor Jason Levesque mentioned Monday.
The thought for Startup Auburn arrived jointly rapidly, he mentioned, as he and Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce President Shanna Cox were being gearing up for the ribbon reducing on the new store, which moved from throughout the river in Lewiston into the previous OfficeMax this thirty day period.
“My biggest holdup when I started out my business was I had no funds, an aged laptop and my living home there was no this sort of thing as a coworking area,” said Levesque, who grew Argo Marketing to 600 staff in 3 international locations prior to providing it in 2018.
The new Staples Join on Union Road in Auburn, exactly where the previous OfficeMax was positioned. Russ Dillingham/Sunlight Journal
With Startup Auburn, 3 business people will be preferred by Jan. 1 to obtain four months of personal business house, a $500 Staples reward certificate and a calendar year membership in the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce to get their thoughts off the ground.
Each the chamber and Staples are also partners in the exertion.
It’s open to Auburn residents. Programs will open up in the future week at goauburn.me.
The new 24,000-square foot Staples Hook up has 1,500 square toes focused to coworking place with personal places of work and both committed and open seating and a large convention room, in accordance to a spokesperson.
Place can be rented by the day or month, or with the conference space, by the hour.
For the contest, Levesque approached Staples about renting a few cubicles for 3 months. He said they preferred the notion so a lot, Staples upgraded the room to private workplaces, lined a fourth month and extra the reward certificates.
“This is only the 2nd coworking house of this sizing and magnitude (by Staples) in the country the other 1 is in Los Angeles, so they truly believe there is a enormous will need for this, and they’re appropriate,” Levesque explained. “We can operate this pilot, see how it works, keep track of it and if it’s thriving, we’ll just hold rolling it out so there’s usually 3 committed offices obtainable to entrepreneurs from Auburn.”
The three spaces will cost the city $3,600 in this initial round, which, if it potentially helps launch a few new companies, is an “unbelievably strong” return on investment, he stated.
“I’ll be performing with the business people, way too, since that is element of the package,” Levesque explained. “I’m heading to dust off all my old marketing understanding, my communications expertise and get the job done with these people as a mentor, which is anything I have often preferred to do.”
Brief hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable idea? Call employees author Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or [email protected].
« Former
Subsequent »
Associated Stories
Latest Content
-
Items to Do
-
Points to Do
-
Maine
-
Small business
-
Livermore Falls Advertiser
Invalid username/password.
Please verify your e mail to ensure and full your registration.
Use the variety beneath to reset your password. When you have submitted your account e mail, we will send an electronic mail with a reset code.