NewBoCo launches new technology and entrepreneur support programs

CEDAR RAPIDS - A computer coding school, a prototyping lab and a virtual reality lab will be coming to the New Bohemian Innovation Collaborative next month.

With the new programs, NewBoCo - housed in the Geonetric headquarters, 415 12th Ave. SE - aims to better enable new businesses to succeed.

'We got really good, I think, at helping connect people with mentors and giving them business advice, but they kept running into technical restraints,” said Eric Engelmann, executive director of NewBoCo and founder and board chairman of Geonetric.

What NewBoCo found, Engelmann said, was these start-ups needed software developers and other technical experts - even if their business wasn't technology-based.

'Our thought was, well, that's what we're trying to do,” Engelmann said. 'Whatever the next constraint is, we're trying to eliminate it for entrepreneurs.”

The computer coding school, for example - named DeltaV - will offer four levels of classes that range in difficulty. The 101 curriculum is a one-day commitment, while the 401 class is a 12-week, full-time program that Engelmann described as an 'apprenticeship” in which those enrolled can get hands-on experience with business owners in the co-working space.

'When they finish 401, they should be employable as an entry-level software developer,” Engelmann said.

He envision three types of students at the school - existing companies in the area who send employees for additional training, those who hope to make a career switch, and those who attend the school as a replacement for college.

Tuition rates are being finalized and an application will be required to be accepted into the program, Engelmann said. Start of classes will be announced this week.

The prototyping lab and the virtual reality lab are available for those with a membership at the Vault Coworking & Collaboration Space in NewBoCo. Both labs are staffed by one instructor versed in the equipment in both spaces.

The prototyping lab, which includes a 3-D printer, will enable business to make product prototypes on a small scale.

'I think it'll be small but mighty,” Engelmann said. 'Enough to get a first prototype built.”

The virtual reality labs have potential to build virtual reality and augmented reality - a live view of an environment, the elements of which are augmented by computer-generated sound, video, graphics and more. Engelmann believes the latter has more potential for start-ups between the two.

Kaitlin Byers, NewBoCo director of development, said the Hall-Perrine Foundation donated $115,000 for the build-out of the new space.

The prototyping lab was funded through the Rockwell Collins Charitable Corp. with $50,000, and Linn County donated $10,000 for the virtual reality lab, Byers said.