Newport, RI – The Newport County Chamber of Commerce announced in a press release today that they will be the first tenant to officially occupy an office at Innovate Newport.
The Chamber began moving in on April 1 and expects that they will be fully operational by next week. Although the full building won’t open to the public until May, the Chamber will be able to welcome guests and host meetings in their new office.
The technology incubator and co-work facility known as Innovate Newport is located on Broadway in Newport’s north end. Through a partnership between the City of Newport, the Chamber and the Economic Development Foundation of RI, the 33,000 square foot historic Sheffield School has been transformed to provide co work space for entrepreneurs, innovators and start-ups as well as the private office suites for established companies.
“The Chamber has been involved with this project since the beginning so we couldn’t be more excited to be moving in,” says Erin Donovan-Boyle, Executive Director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce in the press release.
In late 2018, the Chamber finalized the sale of their 35 Valley Road office building to prepare for the move to Innovate Newport. The Chamber Board of Directors has approved the use of the proceeds earned from the sale to establish an endowment for the organization with the Rhode Island Foundation. The endowment will generate dedicated income that will be used towards programming for Chamber Members and the Greater Newport business community for years to come.
The other permanent tenants in the building; Drupal Connect, Vizsafe, Towerhill Associates and INSPIRE Environmental will also be moving in during the month of April, with the full facility scheduled to open on May 1, with the official ribbon cutting slated for early June.
Innovate Newport, located at 513 Broadway in Newport, is a partnership between the City of Newport, the Economic Development Foundation of Rhode Island and the Newport County Development Council, which is the non-profit 501c3 arm of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce. This project aims at supporting the diversification of the local economy and ensuring a wide range of entrepreneurial and innovation options in the broader ecosystem.
The Newport County Chamber of Commerce is one of the state’s largest business advocacy organizations, whose mission is to connect, innovate, enhance and advocate for the businesses of Greater Newport. As a trusted and reliable institution for nearly 100 years, the Newport County Chamber is a vibrant collective body of the greater Newport business community with nearly 1,100 members representing over 50,000 employee. We work to create valuable strategic partnerships, promote strong economic growth, diversity and prosperity to serve its members and the Greater Newport region.