At the recent 2018 Downtown Intersections in Harrisonburg, we continued our tradition of acknowledging outstanding achievements in comprehensive downtown revitalization efforts through Merit Awards. They recognize the hard work, dedication and success of Virginia’s Main Street communities and their achievements across the four points of the Main Street Approach®. This is the first of a blog series to highlight each of the seven award winners. 
Historic Manassas Inc. Executive Director Debbie Haight accepted the Outstanding Business award for CenterFuse Coworking. Years in the making and the first in historic downtown Manassas, CenterFuse is both an incubator and co-working space that provides new and emerging businesses with an environment that will support their start-up phase and increase the likelihood of success. It functions as a for-profit business, but was created by and is under the auspice of Historic Manassas Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation and pioneer of the local Main Street program.
CenterFuse focuses on science and technology while cultivating other compatible businesses in the district. The facility offers flexible leases, shared-use, and common office equipment, direct business assistance, mentoring, networking and access to capital. The 3,800 square foot space includes a mix of offices, dedicated workstations, and open space for networking. It also provides a roster of entrepreneurship education and mentorship programs, among others.
Since opening in May 2017, the incubator is seeing steady growth in the participating startup’s business development who will soon be ready to expand or move into vacancies downtown. While rising businesses are in the space, they contribute to an entrepreneurial culture in downtown and to the economic vitality of other local businesses and residential properties.
Congratulations Historic Manassas Inc. and CenterFuse Coworking!
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