Aviatra Accelerators, an entrepreneurial nonprofit that supports women-owned startups and small businesses based in Covington, celebrated the opening of its new entrepreneurial incubator with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning.
The incubator is next door to Aviatra’s headquarters at 112 W. Pike St. in Covington. The organization is expanding its footprint to provide Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky women entrepreneurs with more significant resources, mentorship and community they need to advance their businesses.
The building previously housed Northern Kentucky University’s Collaborative for Economic Engagement. That organization will relocate to SparkHaus, located at 727 Madison Avenue, once the building is completed.
Aviatra CEO Jill Morenz said she was thrilled the incubator would allow women entrepreneurs to “start, grow, and get funded.”
“A big part of what we’re able to do at the incubator is offer below market-rate rent for offices for women entrepreneurs for just early stage, for six months, to help them grow and get to the other side and co-working for women entrepreneurs as well,” said Morenz.
The incubator will provide below-market-rate office spaces for six women-owned businesses, several co-working spaces, rentable pop-up retail spaces, and a versatile event space. In addition, it will offer membership into Aviatra’s paid community.
Covington Mayor Joe Meyer spoke during the ceremony, heralding the new incubator as physical evidence of the city’s economic recovery over the past few decades. He also touted the city’s past and present support of its small business community.
“They’ve got a great track record – education, tools, resources – to help women entrepreneurs, and now the incubator is going to be an inspiring place where women can work their business and be surrounded by other like-minded women,” Meyer said. “It will be part of the pathway to success, and there’s no better place than Covington to do this.”
Going forward, Jasmine Hughes, Aviatra’s marketing strategist and Cincinnati program manager, said the organization’s expanded footprint and amenity offerings will help them continue to aid women entrepreneurs across the region.
“I think all of us have those moments of dreaming something big, and through time, sometimes those get a little bit pushed aside, and we start to believe it’s out of reach and that we can’t do it,” Hughes said. “So that’s what makes Aviatra so incredibly valuable and so helpful and why it means so much to me.”
