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Sparking Redevelopment!
The news that Shopbop.com will be moving their growing business to 1245 and 1301 East Washington Avenue is great news for the emerging Capitol East District and a testament to the economic development power of business incubation. Shopbop.com joins EVP Coffee, Full Spectrum Solar and Seventh Generation Energy Systems, all Common Wealth Development business incubator graduates, clustered within a block of the intersection of East Washington and Baldwin Street. In addition, incubator graduates Just Coffee and Applied Tech Solutions are located in the Capitol East District.
“I am so pleased that graduates of our incubation programs are sparking the revitalization of East Washington Avenue,” said Sarah Hole, Common Wealth Development Incubator Director. “These small businesses received critical support during their early years in our incubators and are now playing an important role in moving the Capitol East District forward. They will continue to create jobs that are critical to economic recovery.”
Shopbop.com moved into a 3,500 sf space in Main Street Industries (MSI), Common Wealth’s business incubator located at 931 East Main Street, in 2002. Over the next two years, their business grew rapidly and when Shopbop.com graduated in 2004 they had expanded to 9,000 sf of space and over 50 employees. In July, they will be moving their operations and 200 employees into 200,000 sf of space in property owned by the Mullins Group.
EVP Coffee is a 2002 graduate of the Madison Enterprise Center (MEC), Common Wealth’s business incubator located at 100 S. Baldwin Street which is a partnership with Madison Gas & Electric. EVP was founded in 1997 and opened their first coffee shop at 1250 East Washington Avenue which also houses their roastery. EVP now operates 5 coffee shops in the greater Madison area.
Full Spectrum Solar, MEC 2010 graduate, purchased a building at 1240 East Washington Avenue, right next door to EVP Coffee. Full Spectrum Solar, Wisconsin’s largest solar-only contractor renovated a former auto body shop into a super insulted energy efficient facility.
Seventh Generation Energy Systems (SGES), another MEC 2010 graduate moved to 4 South Baldwin, a property owned by the Mullins Group. SGES products and services include wind and solar energy system design, installation and service.
Sarah loves working with entrepreneurs. Her business background includes running her own studio pottery business, a marketing position in the natural foods industry and a MBA from UW-Madison. When she isn't incubating businesses you can find her paddling in the Quetico canoe wilderness or biking the back roads of Wisconsin.