Former Gales Ferry School building thriving as town-owned business incubator
Ledyard — Mark Caise, owner of Thirty Marketing, used to invite clients to his dining room when they needed to meet face-to-face.
But, as his business snowballed, he knew he needed to change his modus operandi.
"Nobody likes to meet in somebody's dining room — it's not professional," Caise said. "Nobody likes to meet in the Dunkin Donuts. This isn't a let's-meet-on-match.com-and-have-a-date thing."
Almost two years ago to the day, Caise signed on with Gales Ferry Landing, a town-owned business incubator housed in the former Gales Ferry School at 7 Hurlbutt Road.
The incubator came into existence somewhat by accident: shortly after the town fixed up the former school's gym to be used for Jazzercise classes in 2012, people, one by one, began to ask if they could rent the school's rooms for their various businesses and hobbies.
Mark Bancroft, mayoral assistant and director of administrative services, said town officials hadn't thought about renting out the smaller rooms, but went along with it: with a couple conditions.
In order to qualify for the incubator — the tenants pay about half of what commercial properties of the same size would garner in the outside market — a person has to be bringing the business out of his or her home.
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Once settled, the tenant can rely on the town to cover general maintenance issues through rent funds, but has to pay for any aesthetic changes he or she wants in the room.
And, after three years, business owners have to leave the incubator and seek a home in the regular commercial market.
"The purpose of an incubator is to grow something," Bancroft said after explaining the three-year limit. "We've given them the opportunity to save on rent so they can reinvest that money into the business."
He said the landing brings in roughly $70,000 a year, which has helped cover improvements such as a new boiler, an updated heating system and even a gutted bathroom that's now storage space for Thirty Marketing.
"It's the only building the town has that pays for itself and generates money besides that," Bancroft said.
The incubator, he said, is at capacity with two people on the waiting list.
One of its newer tenants, Cycle Shed Stores, opened up shop in mid-June, hosting an open house Aug. 8.
"The opportunity came up for us to get our business to another level, so we took it," Manager Scott Bacon said.
The store, owned by his wife, Jackie, has been operating online and out of the Bacons' Ledyard home since 2004.
The landing, Bacon said, "was probably the only way we could possibly start a brick-and-mortar type of operation."
Thus far, he said, he's had about 200 visitors a month, many of whom have told him they're happy Gales Ferry now has a bike shop.
The location — chock-full of new and used bikes, lubricants, tires, helmets, cyclometers and reading materials and equipped with a coffee bar and a small station for quick tune-ups — offers what the Bacons' online business alone couldn't.
"People want to touch and feel things before they buy them," Bacon explained. "It's not just a pure online experience anymore. Our business is kind of a combination of the two."
To Bacon, there's another benefit of the landing.
"I used to go here when I was 10 years old," he said. "It's neat to see that they're putting it back to some purpose here."
Caise, whose business works in advertising, branding, marketing and promotional solutions, said the location has served him well.
His showroom, encased by bright orange walls and packed with neatly placed examples of Thirty Marketing's best-selling items, has brought in several local businesses, as well as customers from other landing organizations.
It's also allowed him to bring Kim Blais, his partner of eight years, on as a full-time manager.
"I honestly hope more towns look at this as a way to take those businesses out of homes and bring them somewhere and allow them to grow," he said. "I'd love to see it, 10 years down the road, where we have 12 employees, we have a sales team, we have a production team and administrative staff. This building won't suit it, but it's a great way to get to there."
Twitter: @LindsayABoyle
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