Emporia Main Street has named its second Incubator business.
Imaginarium will take over at 729 Commercial, offering engineering materials, robotics and science supplies for children to help foster interest in science, technology, engineering and math — so-called STEM careers. Main Street Director Casey Woods says a business like Imaginarium can help the area and the state with a demonstrated need.
Imaginarium co-owner Dell Jacob says the business idea stemmed from a visit to Kansas City.
Jacob, a teacher at Walnut Elementary, and Melanie Curtis, a teacher at William Allen White, are bringing over 30 combined years in education, notably STEM instruction, to the business. They both credited Main Street and the Kansas Small Business Development Center at Emporia State for their work to set Imaginarium up for success.
Besides items, Imaginarium will also have weekly classes available in robotics, engineering, sewing, animation, woodrowking and other fields. Classes initially will be for students ages 5-12 and later expanding to preschoolers, teenagers and adults. Curtis and Jacob plan to reach out to area school districts to bring STEM opportunities to schools.
The Incubator space offers businesses six months of free rent, six months of below-market rent and six months of “scaled-up” rent as businesses find their own space. Several other businesses offer professional services, while ValuNet offers free internet and phone access and Main Street coordinates with business owners on alternative financing options. Imaginarium follows Trox Gallery and Gifts, which occupied the Incubator space from 2019-2021 and is now at 715 Commercial. For more information on the Incubator space, call Emporia Main Street at 620-340-6430 or go online to www.emporiamainstreet.com. For more information on Imaginarium, find the business Facebook page. The Imaginarium website should debut by August.
