As of today, ShipIndex.org has a new home. We are going to be working out of Rev Ithaca, a brand-new co-working/incubator startup supporter, funded by Ithaca’s three higher ed institutions: TC3, IC, and CU.
Rev had a grand opening this morning at 8:30, and the presidents of the three institutions were all present, and each shared a few words about Rev and its expected impact on their institutions and the Ithaca area. Rev will provide some great services to local startups, from seminars and connections with entrepreneurs-in-residence, to 3-D printers, laser cutters, and tools for creating prototypes of physical objects. Connections with other entrepreneurs will be vital; we had already created a number of useful connections while working out of the downstairs space before the grand opening.
After that, four companies that will be working out of Rev were highlighted, and we spent some time talking with folks from local and national news outlets. Here are a few stories I’ve seen so far; I’ll add more as I learn about them:
- Ithaca Journal: “Three-college Ithaca downtown business incubator opens”
- Ithaca Voice: “Meet 4 startups moving into Ithaca’s Carey Building as Rev.’s engine ignites” — They used the image I posted to the ShipIndex.org Facebook feed of the space before the event began.
- TimeWarner Cable: “Colleges Collaborate to Grow Ithaca Area Businesses”– You need a TWC ID to watch the video; even I don’t want to bother with that. But the article is good.
- Ithaca.com/Ithaca Times/FLCN: “The Downtown Ithaca Incubator Hatches”
- Cornell Daily Sun: “Downtown Ithaca Incubator Opens Doors to Entrepreneurs” — alas, this article has no mention of ShipIndex.org
During the question session, a correspondent for Entrepreneur magazine asked a question about the “maker space” lab that is in Rev, and Tom Schryver, Executive Director of the Center for Regional Economic Advancement at Cornell, had an excellent response. He pointed out that Rev is not a “maker space”; Ithaca has a great maker space in the form of Ithaca Generator. Rev is different; it’s designed to help people who are prototyping products to produce and sell. President Skorton of Cornell followed up on that to emphasize that the space is not meant to compete with other services in the region.
I spoke with folks from Time Warner Cable news, Ithaca Journal, Ithaca Times, The Ithacan (from Ithaca College), American Entrepreneurship Today, Entrepreneur magazine, and got photographed by the Cornell Daily Sun (Cornell’s newspaper). We’ll see what comes from all that!
Then, after everyone left, we all got down to work. It was a true Grand Opening; no one could have worked in the space before 8:30 this morning, and lots of people were at work after the media left at 10:30!