Stealthmode Partners and West Mesa Community Development Corp. are partnering on a business incubator that will be located just outside the city’s downtown.
The West Mesa Business Incubator will offer entrepreneurs training and information about building a company.
Stealthmode has worked on similar projects in Phoenix, Tempe and Gilbert, but without a physical location to provide companies with more resources and space for working together, said Francine Hardaway, co-founder of Stealthmode.
The incubator will be focus mostly on health care with Banner Health’s corporate offices across from the new facility. The incubator also will be home to the Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac program, which Stealthmode has operated locally for years, Hardaway said.
The incubator is part of a growing number of city-private partnerships working to boost the growth of local businesses.
“Every city should do it,” Hardaway said. “It fosters local business, and creates community. It generates jobs, and is a good use of (community development block grant) money.”
The West Mesa group sees the project as a way to encourage businesses in the area.
“As this part of town redevelops, new businesses will become suppliers to major employers in downtown Mesa like Banner Health,” said Jo Ellen McNamara, executive director of the group. “Building new small businesses is the key to creating new jobs and developing the economy.”
The facility will host an open house from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Feb. 2. It is located at 567 W. 10th St. in Mesa.
For more: www.stealthmode.com or www.wmcdc.org.
