New York State is home to 10 Innovation Hot Spots, 20 Certified Business Incubators and ten regional Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers, all designated and sponsored by NYSTAR. Rochester’s NextCorps has been designated to all three of these programs.
James Senall, President of NextCorps, said that the organization’s overarching mission is to assist entrepreneurs in launching new companies and to help existing businesses grow revenue and profitability, all aiming to create jobs in the Rochester area and statewide.
As an Innovation Hot Spot, in partnership with Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Certified Business Incubator, NextCorps offers entrepreneurs a variety of benefits including physical space, shared administrative staff, access to capital, coaching and mentoring, networking opportunities, prototype development and tax breaks. As an MEP center, it connects small and midsized manufacturers with the resources and services they need to grow and flourish.
Senall said that one of the things of which he is most proud is the opening in 2018 of the Downtown Innovation Zone, 40,000 square feet of incubator space in Rochester. The facility is now home to about 60 manufacturers, producing software, medical devices, physical products, clean technology and more.