HAMPTON, Va. — A space in Peninsula Town Center in Hampton could be the key to a successful future for some small businesses in Hampton.
The city is renting the space to use as a business incubator.
"[There] was some vacant space there that was difficult to lease, so we worked a deal with the ownership of the Town Center," said Hampton Mayor Jimmy Gray.
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Chad Ginter, owner of Ginter services, knows starting a business isn’t easy.
“Well, there was many challenges," Ginter said.
Looking back at those challenges, he believes what the city of Hampton is doing will be very beneficial for people who go through the program.
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“Marketing help, networking help, business training for, like, at least a year. I didn’t have any of that," Ginter explained. "that would've been very, very helpful for me."
All something the program could help with. It’s called SPARK Shops. Gray said it will serve multiple purposes.
“It’s for the home-based that’s looking for an opportunity to kind of build their footprint and their customer base with a brick-and-mortar space but without having to do a long-term lease," said Gray.
According to the city’s website, the program offers a year of development and marketing help, a year of help finding a permanent spot for the business, and three years of mentoring and technical assistance.
“The SPARK Shops will also serve as a space for our entrepreneurship academy in Hampton City Schools, for those students who are trying to build businesses to have a retail space that they can learn to develop their businesses and have a place to display goods and services that they provide," Gray said.
City merchandise will also be sold there.
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For anyone trying to start a business, Ginter offers this advice.
“Go and work for somebody doing the business that you want to do. I didn’t do that. I just started it and figured it out as I went. I made a lot of mistakes, and a lot more struggle," Ginter said.
Anyone interested in SPARK Shops can apply online.
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