OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — More people than ever are using a business incubator in Independence, Missouri, to launch their startups.
The Ennovation Center has more current clients than at any time in its 11-year history.
“People are really reevaluating what they want to do in life,” reasoned Xander Winkel, the Ennovation Center’s executive director. “Something like a global pandemic is really gonna make you think what I want to do.”
He said some people lost their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to pursue their passions. Others used the pandemic as motivation to pursue their dreams.
“Maybe that dream that I had, the business idea that’s been floating around, let’s do it. Now’s the time,” Winkel continued.
Bailey Noguez used the Ennovation Center to make her dream a reality. After years in the restaurant service industry, Noguez now owns her own macaron and tea shop in uptown Independence called The Mac Shack.
“They [the Ennovation Center] take it to the next level to make sure you get what you need to succeed,” Noguez said.
For her that meant using the commercial kitchen at the Ennovation Center to scale up her output, learning what permits she needed for her own store, scouting locations and more.
She’s now been serving her French meringue sandwich cookies (toasted marshmallow is the crowd favorite) for two months out of her own store at 104 E Lexington Ave.
The Ennovation Center is about a half-mile west of Independence Square in the Independence School District headquarters.
The business incubator is a collaboration between the school district, the city of Independence and the Independence Economic Development Council. The name is an intentional misspelling of innovation using “E” because it emphasizes entrepreneurship and education.
Startups can rent space in the Ennovation Center for below-market-rate rent as they foster their ideas. Staff members help them with budgeting, obtaining permits and other planning steps. The goal is for each business to “graduate” and open a permanent location.
“That’s what we live for,” Winkel said enthusiastically.
In 11 years, Winkel said companies that left the center have created more than $30 million in new salaries around the Kansas City metropolitan area.
To learn more about Ennovation Center, visit its website or call 816-463-3532
