ARLINGTON — A new non-profit business incubator aimed at helping startups and existing businesses has opened in Arlington.
TheLab@Arlington is a one-stop shop that offers entrepreneurs and business owners a setting in which to brainstorm ideas, refine an invention or consult with industry experts.
Like its Everett counterpart, TheLab@everett, the Arlington incubator is supported by the Northwest Innovation Resource Center, said Diane Kamionka, the center’s director.
“The Labs are a space that is geared to provide innovative entrepreneurs and inventors with resources to take ideas from just a drawing or idea, to a product, to market,” Kamionka said.
Kamionka, a retired technology CEO, launched the center to help speed the business development process.
The non-profit resource center serves Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties.
Services at the center and the two Labs are free.
Staff and volunteers at all locations can help with everything from product development to expansion plans. Virtual one-on-one counseling with local mentors can help inventors and entrepreneurs jump start their business or locate financing, Kamionka said.
The Arlington incubator is housed in a a former gas station in the city’s downtown at 404 N. Olympic Ave. It is open by appointment only.
Funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce helped the city complete the property’s renovation.
The Lab@Arlington is a new business incubator located in a former gas station in the city’s downtown at 404 N. Olympic Ave. (TheLab@Arlington)
Need to sit outside and mull an idea? Put a little sunlight on the problem? (If there’s sun.)
The Lab@Arlington offers an outdoor space that serves as a public “park” with picnic tables, bike racks and restrooms.
It’s also a place to find out what kind of local startups are in the pipeline.
The lobby of the building will be leased for short periods of time to new, emerging businesses as a “pop up shop,” Kamionka said.
TheLab@Arlington has been several years in the making, Kamionka said.
The incubator is an outgrowth of the 2015 North Stillaguamish Valley Economic Redevelopment Plan and the Arlington and Darrington Community Revitalization Plan whose goals include supporting economic innovation, Kamionka said.
A ribbon cutting for The Lab@Arlington took place in June.
Participants included included Arlington Mayor Barb Tolbert, County Councilman Nate Nehring, members of the Arlington City Council and State Rep. Carolyn Eslick.
TheLab@Everett is located on the first and second floors of the Angel of the Winds Conference Center at 2000 Hewitt Ave. It is open 9 am. to 5 p.m.
Maxwell Mooney, the owner of Narrative Coffee in Everett, and Joel Sellinger, an Everett firefighter and founder of LifeDoor, are two of the many entrepreneurs that have tapped TheLab’s resources.
For more information, go to: nwinnovationlab.com
Janice Podsada: 425-339-3097; jpodsada@heraldnet.com;
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