WESTFAIR MAGAZINE: ThePowerLab launches co-working space, incubator in southwest #Yonkers

Leading The# PowerLab in southwest Yonkers are #RayWilcox, LaMont OyeWale' Badru​ and #AnthonyBailey.

YONKERS: The PowerLab, a co-working and incubator space in southwest Yonkers, celebrated its grand opening last month, a major step for a project that its nonprofit founder hopes will bring new economic opportunity to its neighborhood.

Standing in the 2,700-square-foot former medical space that has been repainted, tiled and decorated with local artwork, Ray Wilcox remarked on how far the space had come following a year of refurbishment. It wasn’t easy to get there, he said.

“It’s been a lot of work and a roller coaster for sure,” said Wilcox, a cofounder of the project. “We pushed back our launch four or five times already, but this worked out perfect.”

On the third floor of an office building at 45 Ludlow St., The PowerLab’s new office is furnished with an assortment of desks, couches and tables, along with a reception area and a kitchen and café.

The project’s leaders hope the space will soon be filled with freelancers, entrepreneurs and employees of companies in growing tech fields.

It will also be home to a number of workshops and courses that teach skills such as coding and design.

The project was launched from a canvassing initiative started three years ago, the Highland Hill Project.

The initiative is led by the Yonkers-based nonprofit Community Governance & Development Council (CGDC), which led an effort to speak with residents in southwest Yonkers and identify needs in the community.

“The primary need that we identified was the lack of economic opportunity,” said Community Governance and Development Council Executive Director LaMont OyeWale' Badru. “So we had an idea for creating a business incubator as a potential model or solution for that problem that was different than traditional paths to economic development.”

CGDC began work on The PowerLab and partnered with Wilcox and Anthony Bailey, managing partners of Defiant Media Group, a Yonkers-based marketing and business development agency, which oversaw the buildup and launch of the facility......

https://westfaironline.com/94553/thepowerlab-launches-co-working-space-incubator-southwest-yonkers/