AKRON, Ohio — The U.S. Economic Development Administration awarded the city of Akron $2 million for a renovation that will expand services at Bounce Innovation Hub, the city said in a release.
Bounce is a nonprofit that houses, trains and supports entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses through education, collaboration and investment.
The EDA grant will pay for renovation of Bounce’s 2nd floor, expanding co-working and office space, and increasing classroom and conference space, the city said. The city will match the EDA grant with $530,000.
The renovation is expected to generate $2 million in private investment, while creating about 100 jobs and retaining 42 jobs, the city said.
Bounce was launched in 2018 as one of Mayor Dan Horrigan's top initiatives to help retain talent in Akron, to ultimately help grow the city's population.
“This funding will help grow community, catalyze innovation and further support local entrepreneurship at Bounce,” Horrigan said. “We’ve seen incredible success with Bounce so far and this grant will help propel it to the next stage of growth.”
According to its Community Impact Report, from 2018 to 2020, Bounce businesses generated more than $110 million in revenue and raised more than $23 million from investors. More than $50 million went out in payroll.
With nine floors, Bounce is located on South Main Street in a historic 307,000-square-foot building that once was home to B.F. Goodrich tire operations.
“This was a two-and-a-half year-long project in the making and it’s exciting to see our hard work pay off,” said incoming CEO Jessica Sublett. Sublett, who is currently Bounce COO, helped write the grant application. She will take the reins from current CEO Doug Weintraub.
Congressman Tim Ryan and Senator Sherrod Brown have supported Bounce since its inception, the city said.
“This federal investment will create good-paying jobs, expand job and skills training, and attract new private investment in our community,” Ryan said.
Bounce provides programming and advising for businesses in their early stages to those ready to scale their operations.
Drone services, hydroponic produce growers, sensitive-skin bandage makers and virtual reality programmers have all passed through Bounce’s doors.
Technology startup support is offered through Bounce’s technology incubator and software accelerator.
Mortar at Bounce is a 15-week program for established businesses, while GROW, generating real opportunity and wealth, focuses on women-owned and minority-owned businesses
The Esports Center at Bounce is a collaboration with the University of Akron.
The first-floor Generator offers maker-space, co-working space and event space. The Stray Dog Café is also on the first floor.