New London – Four years of discussion, planning and sweat equity came to fruition Thursday with the grand opening of a new downtown business incubator aimed at supplying tenants with both workspaces and networking opportunities.

More than 200 local officials, business owners and community boosters roamed the halls and offices of the new Regional Innovation Center, an 8,300-square-foot space at 92 Eugene O’Neill Drive that also serves as the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut’s new headquarters.

As guests sipped pinot noir and sampled rounds of sushi on the patio, Chamber President and CEO Tony Sheridan praised the opening as a true public-private partnership in which a roughly $1.4 million state investment was matched by a private capital campaign.

Sheridan noted that while project planning began in 2019, the pandemic put a pause on the work. He said board members examined eight properties before “starting where we ended,” at the former Merrill Lynch building.

“It is the right building,” Sheridan said with the fat stems of wind turbines visible in the background from nearby State Pier. “This building is a gallery, a billboard ... for the city.”

Board Chairwoman Mary Ellen Jukoski said the refurbished building “exceeded my wildest dreams.”

“We want small businesses and nonprofits to come here and have their meetings, to have it serve as hub for the cross-fertilization of ideas for tenants,” she said.

The center features 25 workspaces of varying sizes, including 12 open-space style cubicles and larger traditional offices set aside for longer-term leases. The building features a state-of-the-art kitchen, a 60-seat conference room, printing services and a “zen den” relaxation room.

Office rents range from day rates to up to $1,250 a month for a triple-office layout. Sheridan said he’s in talks with three prospective tenants and his focus is on advertising the center’s availability.

John Bashaw, a veteran lawyer and partner with the Hartford-based Reid & Riege firm, is poised on Jan. 1 to become the first client to move into the center. Bashaw said he’s looking to open a solo environmental law practice after years of handling “large transactions for large companies.”

He said the communal nature of the center appealed to him as much as his new office, already decorated with his wife’s paintings and his degrees.

“I hope to get knocks on my door maybe from an inventor asking about patent or with a question about corporate law,” Bashaw said. “I can pick up the phone and get them connected with someone who can help.”

He said he doesn’t plan to bill for that kind of networking, but rather offer it up in the spirit of offering a helping hand.

“It’s not billable time, just a great use of my next five years,” he said. “I’m jazzed.”

Center Director Alyce Brown said she wants the space to serve as a “one-stop shop” for those perhaps daunted by the prospect of running a small business on their own.

“It’s easy for them to feel alone and we want to offer an ecosystem that shows them it doesn’t have to be scary,” she said. “We want to be cheerleaders.”

Editor’s note: Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut’s Executive Director and CEO Tony Sheridan’s title was incorrect in a previous version of this story.

j.penney@theday.com