The doors of Ann Arbor SPARK's East incubator have been open for a few months, but now the public can come on in and have a looksee this Friday afternoon.

Anyone and everyone is invited to drop in at the new economy business incubator in downtown Ypsilanti between 1:30 and 8 p.m. Ann Arbor SPARK employees will be showing off the new, edgy digs in the restored Mack & Mack building with tour and a press conference.

The incubator will also be showing off its first eight tenants. They range from LaVision, the anchor tenant, to a number of start-ups like Smart Dining and Brainstorm Creative. The incubator is only half full so far, and has plenty of room for virtual tenants.

"We have the same opportunity in SPARK East as we do in SPARK Central (downtown Ann Arbor) to be a virtual tenant," says Elizabeth Parkison, managing director of marketing and public relation for Ann Arbor SPARK.

A virtual tenant is sort of the cheapest, bare bones way of taking advantage of an Ann Arbor SPARK incubator. Virtual tenants pay $95 a month and can take advantage of things like the conference rooms, drop in to use the office space and the business acceleration services. The big difference between virtual tenant and actual tenants is the actual tenants can use the space as their everyday office.

All of these options and more will be available during Friday's open house. SPARK East is located in the ground floor space of 215 E Michigan Ave next to Bombadills Café. For information, call (734) 372-4070.

Source: Elizabeth Parkinson, managing director of marketing and public relation for Ann Arbor SPARK
Writer: Jon Zemke