KENOSHA — Once home to a massive Chrysler plant, a stretch of land in Kenosha is being reimagined for the future.
The new Kenosha Innovation Center officially opened. A $23.5 million, 64,000-square-foot facility designed to be the heart of the Kenosha Innovation Neighborhood (KIN). The center aims to connect startups, entrepreneurs and established businesses under one roof, helping them turn ideas into companies and companies into jobs.
Located along the I-94 corridor between Chicago and Milwaukee, the three-story building will house offices, labs, meeting spaces and event areas. Giving local innovators a launchpad into regional and even global markets.
KIN President Kelly Armstrong says the project represents a new era of growth for the city.
“This is about creating opportunities and building a future where Kenosha isn’t just part of the economy, but driving it forward,” Armstrong said.
Watch: New $23M center brings ideas and opportunity to Kenosha
Among the many entrepreneurs to join the space are Alex and Leslie Olano, the husband-and-wife team behind Olano’s Empanadas. The pair just launched one of the first empanada vending machines, right inside the Innovation Center.
"We saw a documentary about Japan and the machine industry over there and how crazy it is and we thought, 'I haven't seen a vending machine for empanadas,'" Alex said. "We want to be in a university, we want to be in the airport, I want to be everywhere. We have to dream big."
Their pilot vending machine lets anyone visiting the center grab an empanada, and symbolizes the kind of creativity KIN hopes to inspire.
"This is our pilot machine, and it was just a great way to introduce it to the community," Leslie said. "We live here, our business was founded in Kenosha, so we just felt like, as a business, we want to keep being innovative, and it fit with the theme."
As Kenosha continues to grow, with major companies expanding in the region, the Innovation Center marks another milestone in the city’s evolution.
“Our goal is to connect local entrepreneurs to bigger markets,” Armstrong said. “The Kenosha Innovation Center is a place where ideas become companies, companies create jobs, and opportunities multiply.”
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