Officials hope the incubator will promote collaboration through short or longer term leasing for office and event space.
ADAMS, Mass. — The Adams Incubator, an art, retail and small-event space, has opened at 35 Park St. as part of the redevelopment of the Adams Theater.
The space, funded by a one-time pop-up grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, is a collaboration between Adams Theater founder Yina Moore and 1Berkshire. Inside is a small coffee bar operated by Adams-based Poseidon Coffee, art created by local artists, shared office space and a conference area.
Moore hopes the incubator, as well as the Adams Theater, will help promote collaboration within Adams and with other communities. Those interested can lease the space short or long-term as office, pop-up or event space.
"Theater tells stories. You put together a show; you draw an audience. What kind of theater would you be if you can tell the story of your own community? ... Just by having a space like this open, you really foster intra-community communication," Moore said.
The incubator, according to Moore, will let her determine what the community wants while work on the Adams Theater continues. Construction on the long-vacant theater has been ongoing since February, with new marquee signage recently installed on the building.
"If this space is successful, we can have the event space and retail space in the theater lobby; where here, it could just be an incubator space, which is quieter," she said.
The Board of Selectmen held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the opening of the space on Thursday. Town Administrator Jay Green said he is excited to see a testing area for new businesses in town, thanking Moore for taking on multiple projects in town.
"When 1Berkshire, our economic development agency, and a business proprietor like Yina get together and want to test something, the town is excited about that because it's the right way to do things," he said.
1Berkshire's Director of Economic Development Benjamin Lamb said projects like this often do not happen without collaboration between the public and private sectors. He thanked Moore and the town for their support in opening the space.
"This went from being an idea just a few months ago, to finding out that we got the grant about a month ago to you now standing in that space ... The idea of an incubator, the idea of an accelerator, of a space for conversation and dialogues, but also where businesses can literally start from a desk and turn into something potentially down the road," he said.
