Apr 7, 2018 2 min read

It is, literally, a mixed-use incubator that is waiting to be hatched. But Max Miller envisions it as a healthy ecosystem.

“We want to invigorate businesses, and downtown Washington,” said the executive director of the Greater Washington Area Business Incubator project. “We want to develop and keep businesses, while developing a good ecosystem for them.”

Miller also is a professor and the director of entrepreneurial studies at Washington & Jefferson College. Accompanied by three artist renderings, he provided a WABI update to a rapt audience at the Washington County Manufacturers Association’s monthly meeting Thursday night.

WABI is public/private partnership among three entities: W&J, Observer Publishing Co. and the city of Washington. The incubator idea was hatched in late September 2016 when Tori Haring-Smith, then W&J president, and Observer-Reporter publisher Tom Northrop outlined plans for facilities to be occupied and used by small and startup businesses. The newspaper offered its former circulation building on South Main Street and its unused pressroom on Strawberry Way to W&J rent-free for 10 years.

This is a $2.5 million project and “we’re about halfway there” with the funding, Miller said, explaining the $1 million-plus acquired thus far has come “mostly from the state,” along with Local Share Account money from the Meadows Casino and matching funds from donors.

Incubator overseers are seeking additional funding before beginning construction, but Miller is optimistic about “getting something started in 2018.”

Miller said the goal is not merely to attract existing or new businesses, but to nurture and support them and create an environment in which they support each other. In other words, an ecosystem.

Tripp Kline, a local entrepreneur, echoed Miller’s sentiments.

“People talk about an incubator as a place where you can grow businesses,” he said. “We see it more as an ecosystem that enables them to grow.”

Miller said the incubator is drawing interest, but the goal is not merely to attract existing or new businesses. Nurturing and supporting them and creating an environment in which they support each other are keys, as well.

“We want to help people understand the landscape and connect with other people,” he said. “We’re not leaving any stone unturned on what type of business can go here.”