Center Spotlight

We want you to join us in expanding businesses in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts! Take a look at the benefits our Innovation Center is offering:

Membership Benefits

1. Use of a co-working space for at least 55 hours per week at the Framingham State Center. Also included is a small café with free k-cup coffee and snacks, and use of a refrigerator and a microwave. File cabinet rental space, regular meetings and events, and regular use of a large projection screen in the conference room are available to the entrepreneurs as well.

2. Assistance on your start-up from a team of University- undergrad interns. Student interns with different competencies are under the supervision of Mark Hardie, the Director. Most entrepreneurs get between 6 and 10 hours per week of intern work time.

3. Free parking next to the site. The center is located right off  Route 9, and 1.5 miles from the Exit 12 on the Mass Pike.

4. Center space availability 5 days a week, roughly 11 hours a day. It opens at 8:00 AM and closes at 7 PM.  We are also open every other Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM.

5. Included Workbar Membership. As a Center member, you also become a member of Workbar, a regional group of co-working spaces for entrepreneurs. This permits you to work for free at least 2 days per month in Central Square, Cambridge in Boston’s Financial District next to South Station. You can reserve a conference room for meetings at all four Workbar sites for a small fee. (Meetings can be reserved on Wobbe.)  You will also have access to a network of over 2,000 professionals.

6. Talk with expert entrepreneurial speakers. The Center hosts regular entrepreneur group meetings with expert speakers with particular relevance to start-up businesses: such as financial experts angel investors, Venture Capitalists, intellectual property lawyers, accountant/CPA, etc.

7. University support. This new Center has some important backup from the University unlike many co-working spaces.

8. Surrounded by nearly a dozen entrepreneurs from different fields at the Center. Some of the of the fields include IT, fashion, nonprofit, higher education, and many more.

9. Walking distance from restaurants. A 3-block radius from a dozen restaurants and coffee shops, some only a half-block walk away.


 Membership Guidelines

If you are interested in utilizing a space like this and wish to move forward, below are guidelines for becoming a member.

1. There is a preference for members who live or work in the MetroWest area and who have a strong interest in developing the business in this region for a couple of years after moving out from the incubator.

2. We seek members who will share their experience with the student interns, and who are willing to give them projects they need help on. Entrepreneurs at the Center need to meet with the student intern working on their project once per week for at least 45 minutes at the Center during the student’s semester.

3. Many of the best innovations develop out of random discussions with innovators in other fields.

a. The co-work space is particularly interested in having members who look forward to sharing ideas with others and learning from others.

b. We expect that each member will actively engage with the Center and other members.

4. The ideal entrepreneur member for our Center should be about building an innovative for-profit business, or a not-for-profit, which will eventually grow and expand, creating jobs in the MetroWest area.

5. The business should be a one- or two-person business; no larger than two full-time employees for the first year.

6. To be considered to be one of the student-as-entrepreneur members in the Center, the entrepreneur must be a current full-time student at FSU. Part-time students may be considered for a seat if there are not qualified full-time students.

7. An immigrant entrepreneur should be residing in the MetroWest area and be documented.

 

For an application to become a member of the Center, visit the Entrepreneurs page. (Note: Please make sure to check all documents listed in this page to ensure we receive all signatures necessary.)