Flagstaff’s own accelerator NACET is growing at such a fast rate they are needing a bigger nest for their startups and small businesses. This week, they broke ground on a new 28,000 square-foot facility which will house office space, bio labs, conference space and more.
NACET President Annette Zinky said, “NACET and the entrepreneurial community are thrilled that the City is developing the accelerator. This flexible, collaborative, scalable space is perfect for growing companies that need a little time and attention to spread their roots in Northern Arizona. Flagstaff is an incredibly innovative city full of brilliant and creative people. We look forward to what the accelerator adds to our capacity and to our already strong culture of entrepreneurship.”
NACET currently offers an incubation program that emphasizes individualized assessment, coaching and mentoring for entrepreneurs and their teams to help set and reach goals for growth and business scaling. They also offer their clients mentoring, help in securing loans or grants, and help in funding investors.
Read: Startups that came out of NACET
The accelerator will be the perfect place for businesses to get the push they need, while receiving guidance and assistance along the way. NACET and the incubator have already had 32 businesses graduate and more than $140 million in private investments in those businesses since NACET started taking clients in 2004.
Just a few examples of some of the awesomeness that came from NACET’s incubator program:
Robert Kellar started Flagship Biosciences in 2009. Since then, he’s helped business partners get two other businesses started and is currently working on starting a second business, Development Engineering Sciences, for himself.
One of the incubator’s first graduates was Aspen Communications. The company, which is still located in Flagstaff, sells and installs telephone and computer networking equipment.
Sustainable Packaging Solutions/Kind Vines is another graduate. The company sells wine in reusable and returnable bottles with glass corks that can also be reused.
One of the new clients NACET is helping out is Roots Composting. The company collects compost material from local restaurants and stores and then sells the compost to local garden shops.
Read more AZTB coverage of NACET here. Also, if you’re looking into applying for NACET or other incubator programs, find more info about that here.
Photos courtesy of NACET