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PR: Bricks Coworking & Innovation Space of Waterville Awarded DECD Coworking Grant

December 13, 2019

Photo by MaineBiz senior writer Maureen Milliken

Bricks Coworking & Innovation Space, located in downtown Waterville, ME, is proud to announce its award of grant funding through the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development’s (DECD) Maine Coworking Development Fund.

The State’s coworking development fund was established in recognition that a supportive entrepreneurship ecosystem is an important rural economic development strategy. Coworking spaces, or shared work environments which promote collaboration and interaction among members, are increasingly in-demand by both entrepreneurs and remote workers. With $200,000 allocated for the 2019 funding cycle, the fund intends to strengthen opportunities for entrepreneurship, stimulate innovation, and address regional demand for affordable work environments.

“We are deeply grateful to the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development for their support of Bricks Coworking & Innovation Space and the entrepreneurship programming we have developed,” explains RJ Anzelc, founder of Bricks Coworking & Innovation Space. “In just 18 months, Bricks has cultivated a community of technologists, developers, business leaders, and innovators in downtown Waterville and we are thrilled by the opportunity to expand our community and offer deeper venture growth resources.”

In addition to the features and amenities of a shared work environment, Bricks has a strong focus on innovation and technology stemming from Anzelc’s background as a software developer and from the momentum created within the emerging technology, innovation, and knowledge-based economy in greater Waterville. Among its lineup of startup- and technology-focused programming, including Central Maine Tech Night and Central Maine Programmers’ Group, Bricks’ flagship incubator, Jumpstart, is the major focus of the DECD grant funding.

Jumpstart is a business incubator providing the guidance, mentorship, programming, and collaboration founders need to turn their ideas into businesses. Participating founders follow a proven curriculum and receive dedicated mentorship that guides them to design and develop a product, gain their first customers, connect with business development resources and services throughout Maine, and raise funds.

Established by Anzelc and Nick Rimsa, co-creator of Eariously and member of Bricks, the program will utilize grant funding to strengthen its capacity to support additional founders, increase the total value of funding awarded to participating startups, and accelerate the revenues of those startups.

“RJ Anzelc and Nick Rimsa are spectacular entrepreneurship role models and mentors – they apply the same innovation and determination to their startups as they do to the startups of Jumpstart members,” explains Garvan D. Donegan, director of planning and economic development at Central Maine Growth Council. “Their experience growing businesses in downtown Waterville has translated into an incredible coworking space and business accelerator which attracts, recruits, and retains top talent in the central Maine region and strengthens our emerging technology and knowledge-based economic hub.”

For their transformative work building the central Maine entrepreneurship ecosystem, Anzelc and Rimsa were inducted as 2019 MaineBiz Next honorees.

Last modified: December 13, 2019

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