Crowdfunding aids shop, moving startup
andneighboring Stowe.
Thecurrent cohort of nine for-profitand nonprofit venturesgets assistance with planning,financing, marketingand other business basics atworkshops held monthly atFocus On Renewal.
The incubator is managed by New Sun Rising, a nonprofit that promotes community development by entrepreneurs with a social mission.
Mr.Brockington, 28, who livesin McKees Rocks, launchedPittMovers in 2016 withAntwan Demery, 37, of Swissvale, after both left sales managementjobs at Sprint.
The firm offers residential and commercial moves, furniture arranging and furniture assembly. It leases space in a STORExpress facility on Furnace Street Extension in McKees Rocks.
PittMovers’ sales were about $82,000 in 2017, and the company expects revenues to top $120,000 this year.
The business is profitable, said Mr. Demery, and has ramped up hiring efforts so that the founders can manage it rather than load trucks and haul furniture.
“Our goal is to not sweat anymore,” Mr. Demery said.
When Mr. Brockington learned last fall that Launch Sto-Rox was taking applicants, “We were desperate for help,” he said.
“Launch Sto-Rox was not exactly a savior, but it’s good to have someone who wants to see us succeed as much as we want to succeed.”
Black Forge’s Mr. Miller got similar support and learned the value of community synergies in Allentown when he participated in Launch Hilltop, also operated by New Sun Rising.
At the time, he was a partner in Epicast, a podcast network and production firm. He left that venture to focus his efforts on Black Forge after it opened in 2015.
If Black Forge’s deal to buy the former bank goes through, Mr. Miller wants to open as a coffee shop and add performances, roasting and an expanded kitchen as the partners operate their original shop on Arlington Avenue in Allentown.
When they hire staff in McKees Rocks, Black Forge hopes to tap workers from the neighborhood, Mr. Miller said. They envision developing a barista training program where participants could learn coffeemaking skills and eventually work at Black Forge or other establishments.
A big attraction for Black Forge in McKees Rocks is the ongoing $9 million renovation of the historic Roxian Theatre, which sits a couple of blocks away from the space Black Forge wants to occupy.
Opened as a vaudeville house in 1929 and vacant for decades, the Roxian has a 1,400-seat capacity. “That will mean a huge influx of people coming in right down the street from us,” Mr. Miller said.
Because the original Black Forge hosts so many performers, Mr. Miller also has connections at Hollowood Music & Sound, which provides sound systems for performing acts and has been a fixture in McKees Rocks since 1965.
“Weknow businesses [in McKeesRocks], so we know peopleto collaborate with andthat’s why Allentown workedfor us: We share audiencesand customer bases.”
At a Launch Sto-Rox session last week, Mr. Brockington and Mr. Demery huddled with a couple of other entrepreneurs and Lydia Morin, director of community engagement and enterprise at Focus On Renewal, to exchange challenges they’ve had putting together their business plans.
Mr. Demery acknowledged that PittMovers needs to put budget and growth projections on a spreadsheet. Ms. Morin suggested the company hold a hiring event and set up a meeting with another incubator participant, June Fleming, who had a long career in human resources and might give them useful tips on recruitment.
Ms. Morin, who helped PittMovers develop its crowdfunding plan, believes the moving assistance initiative would be well used and illustrates the company’s commitment to McKees Rocks.
And,if the success of Black Forge’scrowdfunding effort isany indication, she said, “There’sa big community of people”willing to invest in the town’s revitalization.