Central Michigan University Research Corporation is nearing the grand opening date for its new offices in downtown Saginaw. The business incubator is celebrating with a media preview day Tuesday, Aug. 28 and will begin servicing clients immediately following the Labor Day holiday. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for October.
The expansion into Saginaw represents significant growth for the organization, which got its start in Mt. Pleasant in 2000. This is the third location for CMURC. The organization opened a Bay City branch in 2017.
CMURC is a co-working space with multiple business accelerator programs. It places an emphasis on connecting clients with established professionals including accountants and attorneys. The organization focuses on entrepreneurs with intellectual properties and helps them commercialize their ideas and concepts.
The organization believes its recent forays into Bay City and Saginaw have helped broaden the Mount Pleasant business community’s role in the Great Lakes Bay region.
"The tri-cities have been connected for 30-plus years now. Once Isabella County got involved, it’s offered greater opportunities for everyone," says Erin Strang, President and CEO of CMURC.
"There’s a huge source of resources there and we continue to work together."
As members of Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s SmartZone program and 21st Century Jobs Trust Fund, CMURC is required to report its amount of jobs created and capital generated to the state of Michigan. It was the state that directed CMURC to support the Great Lakes Bay region as a whole.
The new Saginaw location, as well as the one in Bay City, aims to do just that.
"The coolest thing we’ve seen so far is that we’ve been able to connect all of these different entrepreneurial ecosystems together," says Strang.
"It’s become a big family throughout the region, and we’re connecting people throughout."
CMURC Saginaw is located at 203 S. Washington Ave. in downtown Saginaw.
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