{"id":212153,"date":"2020-06-25T08:40:27","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T12:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=212153"},"modified":"2020-06-25T11:31:17","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T15:31:17","slug":"taking-care-of-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2020\/06\/25\/taking-care-of-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Care of Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

As thousands of brick-and-mortar retailers across New Jersey cautiously reopened on Monday, June 22, one new storefront in Montclair Center on Lackawanna Plaza welcomed customers and entrepreneurs for the very first time.<\/p>\n

The Montclair Innovation Lab, a timely collaborative effort between the University\u2019s Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and community partners like the Montclair Center Business Improvement District (BID<\/a>), is at the heart of efforts to breathe life into the local economy while creating opportunities for student and community entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n

Throughout the Innovation Lab\u2019s opening day, visitors came and went \u2013 masked and appropriately socially distant \u2013 sampling wares, watching demonstrations, and talking to the creative minds behind the collaboration at the Lab at 10 Lackawanna Plaza just off of Bloomfield Avenue.<\/p>\n

“Montclair State University has been interested in having an off-campus presence in downtown Montclair for a while,” says Feliciano Center Executive Director Carley Graham Garcia. “We feel fortunate at the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation to be the team to do it. Never was there a more important time to support innovative ideas, student and community startups, small businesses and the innovation economy in New Jersey.”<\/p>\n

Garcia noted that the University was working to debut the incubator space this spring when COVID-19 hit. The Feliciano Center quickly pivoted to what was needed: a production facility for personal protective equipment (PPE)<\/a> that wrapped up its work in late May after producing more than 30,000 units of face shields and delivering them to area hospitals and medical facilities.<\/p>\n

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Altarik Banks \u201918 is the general manager of the Montclair Innovation Lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now the focus has shifted from the health impacts of the pandemic to the economic reverberations.<\/p>\n

Garcia explains that the Lab, which is a two-year pilot project, will include a mix of 3D printing operations and business pop ups, scaling the learnings of the Feliciano Center\u2019s MIX Lab<\/a> \u2013 an on-campus facility that has fostered student\/community innovation around 3D printing since its founding in 2015. The new Montclair Innovation Lab will expand that effort to provide more help to the Montclair business community as well as increased opportunities for students.<\/p>\n

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Until the Montclair Innovation Lab can offer co-working and in-person events, it\u00a0 will focus on supporting the winners and applicants of the Feliciano Center\u2019s 2020 Startup Montclair<\/a> annual pitch competition.<\/p>\n

They include a diverse group of entrepreneurs and business concepts, such as Dr. Floss \u2013 a one-time use, eco-friendly device that flosses all teeth simultaneously; Garbage Wine, a process that converts food waste to wine; SoLo\u2019s Food<\/a>, online ordering and delivery of healthy, affordable Soul and Latin food; Cloud Card, customizable business cards for easy electronic sharing; and Roncero Reiki\/REIKIDS,a mindfulness program specifically created for kids.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Other entrepreneurs are also on deck, such as Vett News<\/a>, a content management system that journalist and Montclair resident Paul Glader reports will revolutionize audience engagement and corrections for news media.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are truly excited to be working with the Montclair Innovation Lab,\u201d says Diamonique Lundy of SoLo\u2019s Food, who served up smoothies and chickpea, chicken or beef sandwiches on the day of the launch. \u201cWe feel supported and better able to launch our business during this unstable time.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds, \u201cThe Lab allows us to cut down on some overhead expenses by selling from the pop up space. The physical space gives us better visibility to gain new customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photographer Jennifer Bladel \u201907 (left) and Diamonique Lundy of SoLo\u2019s Food converse through plexiglass during the Montclair Innovation Lab\u2019s launch on Monday, July 22.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe opportunity to have Montclair State in a hub in the center has been a dream of ours and the University for at least a decade,\u201d says Jason Gleason, executive director of the Montclair Center BID. \u201cWe\u2019re super thankful to Carley and everyone at Montclair State.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMontclair has such a deep, rich well of doers and thinkers and innovators and that entrepreneurial spirit,\u201d Gleason continues. \u201cTo have Montclair State\u2019s resources, to bring people into an actual space, this is a great opportunity for students to get an idea of what business is like and cultivate that talent right here in Montclair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Montclair State alumna and photographer Jennifer Bladel \u201907, whose photography exhibit titled COVID-19 Small Business Project adorns the Lab\u2019s walls, agrees. She heard about the Lab through Montclair Mondays<\/a>, a series of webinars supporting Montclair businesses produced jointly by DesignShed, parent company of Montclair Design Week, the Montclair Center BID and the Feliciano Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI live and work in Montclair and I\u2019ve been following Carley on Montclair Mondays which has been such a pivotal platform for small business owners to come together and get the lowdown on what was happening in the short term and long term,\u201d says Bladel.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of that, I reached out to Carley.\u201d Bladel\u2019s photos tell the stories of local business owners who \u201care the fabric of our town and make it so vibrant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur underlying missions complemented each other so well,\u201d says Bladel of the Innovation Lab.<\/p>\n

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Photos by Jennifer Bladel \u201907 are on exhibit in the incubator space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although Bladel\u2019s photos can be viewed at villagestudiophotos.com<\/a>, Garcia hopes visitors will stop by to see the exhibit and the Montclair Innovation Lab in person during its hours of\u00a0 operation: Monday -Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are open to the public. We want this space to feel accessible, like it belongs to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

And expect those hours of operation, as well as programming, to expand. Garcia envisions collaborating with Montclair Center BID to program events in Crane Park on weekends this summer. (Gleason says he has obtained the permits.) Garcia is also hoping to be able to partner with local community groups and nonprofit organizations like the YMCA.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay tuned,\u201d says Garcia.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the beginning,\u201d adds Gleason.<\/p>\n

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Story by Staff Writer Mary Barr Mann<\/a><\/p>\n