Hillcrest High School will re-open for business in about six weeks time.
However, instead of catering to the educational needs of students, the 83-year-old institution will help a new generation of entrepreneurs and not-for-profit organizations learn how to compete in the world of business.
Sandi Boucher, president of the Thunder Bay Centre of Change, has set a June 1 target opening date, just eight months after the idea for the business incubator began.
"We wanted to give new and upcoming businesses or non-profits in the city a chance to get ahead, to pay a little less in rent, to work together. Partnering is the key to this project," Boucher said on Tuesday. "They’ll be doing joint marketing, joint events."
To date 20 different organizations have signed on, four non-profits and the rest for-profit.
"It’s the most eclectic mix ever," said Boucher, who co-founded the centre with developer Robert Zanette.
Tenants include Volunteer Thunder Bay, Charry’s Martial Arts studio, the Thunder Bay Wellness Centre, BonJo Vie, World Dance Centre, Kam Valley Industries, Bicycles for Humanity and Grinning Belly.
"Nine of them are new businesses," she added. "They’re new, up-and-coming, this may be their first office. They could have been operating out of their living rooms up to now. Eleven are older businesses. So we have a really nice balance of experience and new, innovative ideas."
Boucher said there’s room for about five more tenants to come on board, but noted that businesses with workable locations who want to be a part of the TBCOC can purchase a virtual office and have mail sent to the former school and be able to used the shared spaces to meet clients and benefit from the shared marketing of the centre’s tenants.
Shared spaces, which won’t be developed, include the school gymnasium and auditorium. In fact, the only real renovations being done before the June 1 opening is the installation of an elevator, an accessibility requirement of the charities involved.
Artists and artisans can also benefit, she added, through the rental of one of many display cases found throughout the building.
For $20 a month artists can showcase their talent to the centre’s clientele in a safe and secure manner, Boucher said.
It’s the community-driven aspect of the project that has Boucher so excited.
"It’s a 140,000 square-foot building. We were planning on rolling it out one floor at a time. Maybe we’d get a couple of people interested. And like I said, maybe we have four rooms left. The community showed up. They wanted this to happen and it’s happening in (less than) eight months."
As a condition of their tenancy, each organization has agreed to attend monthly networking meetings. The developer, who has yet to take over the school from the Lakehead Public School board, has also left a number of shared spaces open for rent by the businesses or the community at large, including the gym and the auditorium.
For more information, visit www.tbcoc.ca.
