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Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center opens its doors in Warren
By Kalea Hall
WARREN
Jeff Keel and Joe Balest had an idea.
That idea has now become a business with the help of Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center.
Alios 3D, a TBEIC resident company, uses space inside the Warren incubator’s office at 125 W. Market St. to 3-D print items for businesses.
“The exposure has been great,” Keel said. “It gives businesses a place where they can start.”
On Thursday, TBEIC opened its doors to the public to show what’s going on at the energy-based incubator where five resident companies work. About 80 people attended.
The incubator acquired the 22,000-square-foot building three years ago, and it took it over in March with the goal of helping energy start-up companies get off the ground. TBEIC in Warren is using a $2.2 million investment from the U.S. Department of Energy along with approximately $1 million to $3 million in cash and in-kind support from the state of Ohio and regional stakeholders.
The other TBEIC resident companies are: Yanhai Power, a fuel-cell component company; FirstFuelCells.com, a fuel-cell-powered robotics competition company; Sky Harvest Energy, a renewable-energy project company; and Ashlawn Energy, a flow-battery company.
TBEIC works with dozens of other companies in the JumpStart Entrepreneurial Network, a 21-county region within Northeast Ohio. Energy is a “huge, huge market,” said Dave Nestic, chief executive at TBEIC. “Our core focus is grid technology.”
The entrepreneurs in residence at TBEIC are there to provide resources to the businesses from building a business plan to obtaining funding.
“We also help them to find partners,” Nestic said. “We are intimately aware of commercializing new technologies.”
Alios 3D became a resident company in April after Keel and Balest had an idea to make what businesses might need that can be 3-D printed. It started with the idea to create a piece of plastic that would protect the cords of cellphone chargers. The two not only provide the 3-D service for their business customers, but they also teach them about the advantages of 3-D printing.
“We can do powders, plastics and metals,” Keel said.
TBEIC is just getting started. The facility has a 5,000-square-foot lab and more space for more companies.
More companies means more investment and more jobs.
“It could reconfigure the community,” Nestic said. “We are here, and we have a lot to offer. Make an appointment. Knock on the door.”