Coming Soon: Fashion Incubator

As a member of the ARCH Development Corporation team (who are so forgiving of my incessant blogging) I have known about this bit of development happiness for a while. We hadn't been ready to make a formal announcement (and hold a community meeting) until we had more details.

Now that the City Paper has let the cat out of the bag (such sharp eyes you have Lydia! :) )  I am happy to share the good news. Duane Gautier, CEO of ARCH has been working tirelessly for months with the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce to bring this wonderful opportunity to Anacostia. If all goes well (and hopefully that includes some much needed funding) the Fashion Incubator will bring more economic development, commerce, and business opportunities to the Anacostia Business Corridor.

The Fashion Incubator will be joining The HIVE (Home of Innovators / Visionaries / Entrepreneurs) as Anacostia's newest incubator. God willing and with vital funding (are you listening DC government?) we can open more incubators and bring more job and business opportunities to Ward 8.

Go HERE to learn more about the Fashion Incubator and how to apply.
Go HERE to learn more about ARCH Development Corporation.
Go HERE for the full Housing Complex article by Lydia DePillis.

Excerpt:

I've been chattering a lot about  incubators lately, and only just now found out about a new one coming to Anacostia: The Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce will soon start accepting applications from designers for its flagship workspace at 1225-1231 Good Hope Road SE, to open in July 2012. 

Sadly, it's replacing ARCH Training Center, which recently hasn't applied for the workforce development grants that kept it going for the last few years and is  closing December 31. But this is a pretty exciting development for one of Anacostia's two main streets (where neighbors have been  raising hell about a shelter for homeless women going in a few doors down). The  incubator will host between 16 and 18 part-time and eight full-time designers with 24-hour access to the facility, paying $275 and $800-850 per month in rent.