Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | April 2, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 9 W Davis Publications. "That's something that the Davis family and the board of directors are really working toward," Reid said of hosting a broader range of tenants in the fields of the arts and innovation. ArtsWorcester will take up more than 3,000 square feet in a much friendlier layout than its current space in the Aurora Building on Main Street, which has columns and is not compliant with accessibility codes. IgWorcesterMA plans a new studio and workshop to give members access to industry leaders and help improve their skills, according to husband-and- wife co-founders Jaime Flores and Giselle Rivera-Flores. They plan to expand the group – whose name includes a nick- name for the social media network Instagram – to include a new mag- azine and podcast. "For us, the loca- tion is prime, but our reasons for tak- ing this step goes beyond the loca- tion," Rivera-Flores said. "We are inspired by Julian Wade, and the work he is doing to ensure there is a strong sense of community in the building." Those two arts groups will move into the Printers Building within the next year, joining Action! Worcester, which moved in last month. A unified incubating effort Action! Worcester and the Worcester CleanTech Incubator are remaining separate entities but are combining forces at a time when Worcester is hop- ing to grow its startup scene. They announced last month they've joined efforts and combed their spaces. They will also kick off a $2-million fundrais- ing effort to help cover operations in the next three to five years. The two entities now share WCTI's existing 6,000-square-foot space. Action! Worcester had been running an incuba- tor space, the Worcester Idea Lab, around the corner at 20 Franklin St. "The Printers Building is such an exciting opportunity," said Croke, from Action! Worcester. Croke said he expects many of the roughly 13 member companies and 38 Notable tenants at the Printers Building Who: Davis Publications What they do: Publisher of SchoolArts magazine and K-12 art textbooks Who: Technocopia What they do: Space for startups to rent use of machinery and technology Who: WICN 90.5 FM What they do: Jazz radio station Who: Crocodile River Music What they do: Holds workshops and works with local community groups and performances spaces to spread African music locally Who: Worcester CleanTech Incubator and Action! Worcester What they do: 6,000-square-foot incubator space for new businesses and entrepreneurs Who: Worcester Bookkeeping Collaborative What they do: Bookkeeping and administrative services for small- to medium-sized nonprofit, cooperative or small businesses Who: John Stimpson Production What they do: Filmmaking studio Who: ArtsWorcester (coming in 2018) What they do: Nonprofit showcasing local art Who: IgWorcesterMA (coming in 2018) What they do: Photography studio and workshop individuals who were members of the Idea Lab to make the move. There are about 10 member companies at WCTI, including two battery technology companies, Battery Resources & Kinetic Batteries, and Embue, a maker of smart home technology. Action! Worcester will combine its staff of two full-time and one-part time employees with WCTI's lone full-time employee, Executive Director Joe Bush. Bush said he's admired the work of Action! Worcester during the two years WCTI has operated nearby. "This partnership creates a unified effort to drive [an] innovative ecosys- tem in Worcester," he said. The Idea Lab is one of a few remain- ing tenants, along with startup compa- nies, in the 20 Franklin St. building owned by the Worcester Business Development Corp. That building is also seeing changes. Petricore, a video-game design com- pany, moved in January to a new build- ing at Becker College, the alma mater of its co-founders. Ten24, a digital solutions company, is planning to expand to the fourth-floor space Petricore left behind. Lauren Monroe, a Technocopia co-founder, shows off the nonprofit's screenprinting lab to a small group taking a tour. Ten24 moved to 20 Franklin St. three years ago seeking a more lively environ- ment with other employers than its pre- vious space in Northborough. The com- pany now has 25 employees and plans to hire another three or four this year, President David Crouch said. Giselle Rivera- Flores, co-founder, IgWorcesterMA "This partnership creates a unified effort to drive [an] innovative ecosystem in Worcester." Joe Bush, WCTI's Executive Director P H O T O / G R A N T W E L K E R

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