A handful of local companies and entrepreneurs will soon have a new home in downtown Little Rock to grow among fellow startups.
Construction to transform two spaces, located at 415 and 417 Main St., into the Little Rock Technology Park has been underway since April and on Tuesday officials announced the first tenants who will move in next year.
Renovations on the 38,000-square foot facility will be completed Feb. 24, 2017, and the space will be operational March 1, said Executive Director Brent Birch at a news conference Tuesday.
Inspiration for the $100 million office space came from a desire to keep local talent in the Little Rock area, Birch said, instead of losing people to larger markets like Dallas or Tulsa.
The facility should be “more than a space you just show up to and sit down at a desk,” Birch said. It’s a place where employees from different companies can swap ideas over coffee and learn from each other, he added.
“However you want to meet, odds are in this space you can make it happen,” he said.
The building, outfitted with a coffee shop, conference rooms and smaller suites, will house the Venture Center, an organization that educates local business people, and 10 other tenants. A few of those Arkansas-based companies were founded years ago, but most are just starting out.
Those businesses include Corporate Insight Strategy, iDatafy, LumoXchange, PC Assistance, PFITR, Sparkible, Labscoop, Redoxica and two local entrepreneurs. More occupants will be announced soon, Birch said.
James Hendren serves on the Board of Directors for the park and was CEO of Arkansas Systems for 20 years. When he first created the company, there were not a lot of resources or support for folks like him, he said.
“You feel like you’re the Lone Ranger,” Hendren said.
With place like the tech park, those who might have been isolated in the past can connect with mentors for help with "the whole gamut," Hendren said, meaning everything from fundraising to marketing to corporate board structure.
Kevin Zaffaroni, chairman of the board, said the goal will always be for local businesses to expand so much through the help of the park that they eventually have to move to their own facility in Little Rock.
“Success, in the end, is to grow enough to get out,” he said.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.