A space positioned to help jump-start startups
It’s a tall order, but a yet-unnamed downtown manufacturing center could take a crack at problems that span workforce, economic, manufacturing and community development if everything goes as planned, according to the project’s partners.
Slated for a now-empty industrial space within walking distance of the Greenville Health System Swamp Rabbit Trail, the project plans to serve as a co-locating space for a handful of high-technology, high-growth manufacturing startups that are caught between needing more than a garage but less than their own building, say the project’s developers Dennis and Russ Braasch of Braasch Building Group.
The development is known generically as the NEXT Manufacturing Center, because of its handshake partnership with the Greenville Chamber of Commerce’s NEXT program. The manufacturing center will also share the co-locating and business support services philosophy of the NEXT Innovation Center, which banks on the idea that such environments foster innovation, collaboration, support and the sharing of best practices that lead to a healthier, more vibrant business network.
Finding out what companies need
For NEXT CEO John Moore, the spark for the manufacturing center began with a meeting half a decade ago about what elements were missing from Greenville’s entrepreneurial environment.
“We knew there was a demand for these types of facilities,” said Moore. “We weren’t just looking for manufacturing, but we were looking at what do we need for facilities.”
When companies outside of the Innovation Center began asking about more tangible support such as loading docks, he began scoping potential solutions, said Moore.
“In a way, all we do with NEXT is find out what these companies need,” he said, noting he looked at potential facilities in Greer, Travelers Rest, Mauldin, Greer and around Greenville County before he found out Dennis Braasch was interested in the 400 Birnie St. property. “What makes me very optimistic about just talking to the companies is that this is not a ‘build it and they will come’ model… We’re building this practically exclusively for the talent and opportunities that are already here, though in fact there are companies that are already looking here that are interested in that space.”
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NEXT Manufacturing will honor industrial past while looking to future // NEXT Manufacturing at 400 Birnie St. will provide small and startup companies competitively priced space needed to collaborate without signing long-term leases or purchasing large buildings that they’re not quite ready for.
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The downtown lifestyle
The downtown location was important for several reasons, but most importantly it caters to a specific kind of startup, said Dennis Braasch.
“What Russ and I always wanted to do was to have the feel and the energy and the lifestyle of the park connect with this,” he said, noting that proximity to the proposed new city park, the trail and downtown would make it easy to get lunch or take a break without having to get in a car. “The people who come here, who are starting businesses and growing businesses and setting up headquarters to do business here, or have maybe moved out of their own garage to come here before they move to their own building, they’re the kind of people that like that kind of a lifestyle.”
Being close to downtown also elevates the visibility of the manufacturing in Greenville, highlighting not only that innovation in manufacturing happens here, but that it’s encouraged and supported, said Moore.
“The best marketing we can do to attract new business is to do amazing things to support our existing base,” he said.
Building up communities
Not only will the center foster entrepreneurship and market Greenville, but its location at the edge of one of the city’s lowest-income neighborhoods, in addition to education partnerships, could build up communities and bridge workforce development challenges.
For example, they’re working on a partnership with the local school system to get middle and high school students in a program that exposes them to modern manufacturing in the hopes that it will inspire them to go into the industry themselves, which could improve the workforce pipeline challenges facing many technical industries today.
“There’s a big challenge for connections between companies and the families and kids that need training in the manufacturing industry,” said Russ Braasch, adding his father has had the idea of pairing manufacturing and education at the back of his head for more than two decades.
Dennis and Russ Braasch are working with eight to 10 prospective tenants and hope to welcome the first company towards the end of summer. While several elements still need to be nailed down, both call the project “very doable.”
“We think that using the NEXT initiative to support it in manufacturing companies and getting companies that are interested in supporting the community and being partners in the community is a really good way to support both initiatives.”
