A crowd of over 250 people – including prominent figures such as Mayor Bill Baarsma and Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO David Graybill – turned out Wednesday night to celebrate entrepreneurial success at the grand opening of the William M. Factory Small Business Incubator.

Located at 1423 East 29th St. in Tacoma, the new building provides a state-of-the-art facility for the incubator to better pursue its goal: nurturing carefully selected small businesses, thus setting the stage for job growth, an expanded tax base and overall revitalization of the area.

“We’ve sold this as the best small office building in all of Tacoma-Pierce County,” said Tim Strege, executive director of the William M. Factory Small Business Incubator.

With over 100 workstations, high speed Internet access and its close proximity to Interstate 5 (near Portland Avenue), the incubator offers a host of amenities:

– Office space starting at $350 per month;

– Multiple conference rooms;

– A high-speed fiber-optic communica-tions system;

– Shared workspaces;

– Office and business software;

– Business equipment;

– On-site support staff;

– Management consulting;

– A contracting center and bid documents; and

– Assistance in dealing with various government programs designed to assist businesses.

Strege was particularly impressed with the new building’s prime location near I-5.

The incubator is well positioned for companies relying on freeway access as congestion stifles connecting routes, he pointed out.

“What freeways we have are a precious resource,” Strege said.

Other advantages include being close to the city’s downtown, the Port of Tacoma and Sound Transit’s Freighthouse Square station.

As for the $3 million, 20,000-square-foot facility itself, the three-story building has a distinctive appearance that takes advantage of natural lighting, which visitors will notice when they enter through an atrium lobby entrance and reception area.

Other features include spectacular balcony views of Commencement Bay and Mount Rainier, covered parking and a security system.

The building is comprised of 25 offices of between 200 and 400 square feet.
An anchor tenant space of 2,500 square feet is also available.

The William M. Factory Small Business Incubator is financed through a combination of public and private sources, including a $1 million US Bank loan.

The building’s development team includes Boe Architects, Merit Co. as the general contractor, AHBL Engineers, landscape architect Jeff Glander and project manager Heery International.

The incubator is off to a good start, with 32 businesses already located in the building, according to Strege.

“All but two are occupied,” he said of the 25 offices, noting that with shared office tenants, the building can accommodate up to 50 businesses total.

“We’ll have a long waiting list,” he stated.

The incubator’s move into its new home brings it back to its roots in East Tacoma.

One of the first business incubators in the nation when it was founded in 1986, the William M. Factory Small Business Incubator’s first location was in a converted restaurant three blocks from the new building site.

In 1998, a successful incubator company bought the leased complex for its headquarters, while the incubator moved to downtown Tacoma with the goal of returning to the Eastside.

The building is named for the late William M. Factory, a community activist for over 40 years.

Factory served as a catalyst in expanding business and employment opportunities through his role as Co-Founder and President of the Tacoma-Pierce County Small Business Incubator, which received a 1988 “Neighborhoods USA” award.

He also volunteered as a founding and active member of numerous civic organizations including the Eastside Improvement Group, Portland Avenue Community Center Advisory Board, United Neighborhoods of Tacoma, Tacoma School District Advisory Committee, Eastside Neighborhood Advisory Council of Tacoma, Neighborhood Housing Services and the East Tacoma Home & Industry Council.