WESTPORT, CT—Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) visited the Westport Innovation HUB today to tour the facility and meet with local entrepreneurs and small businesses based at the center’s shared workspace. The HUB is home to more than 25 small business operators and its members assist each other with capital, local resources and expertise. A core group of six members are actively looking at investing and supporting startups in Southwest Connecticut.
“The HUB is harnessing the entrepreneurial energy that is vital to creating jobs and keeping Southwest Connecticut at the forefront of innovation,” Himes said. “Our country’s economic future depends on the success of the companies that are starting and growing under this roof. One of the best investments we can make in America’s future is to help these small companies grow and hire more people.”
“Some of the businesses here at the HUB are renegades from the burdens of commuting and working in New York City, and others like myself are long-time local entrepreneurs,” said Howard Steinberg, the Westport Innovation HUB’s founder. “If you capture the right combination of individuals and business energy under the same roof, good things will happen organically. We’re now pulling together an ‘idea lab’ that will leverage the experience, network and capital of the group to generate new ideas for businesses based right here in our region.”
Before founding the Westport Innovation HUB in 2013, Steinberg started two other companies in Westport over the past 25 years – Source Marketing and dLife, which have employed more than 175 people in the area.
The businesses based at the Westport Innovation HUB include New Ground Ventures, an investor in early-stage companies; Floto Imports, which imports leather handbags and luggage; and LupRocks, a product placement firm. The HUB has 5,540 square feet of office space featuring glass offices, curved work stations designed for collaboration, a coffee bar and video conference rooms.