NextCorps has $10 million expansion in the works

NextCorps is in the planning stages of an estimated $10 million expansion at the Sibley Building. Last fall, the innovation hub decided to use its purchase option for the remaining space on Sibley’s sixth floor.

“We’ve been at 100 percent capacity for probably a couple of years now,” says Jim Senall, president of NextCorps. “We definitely saw a little bit of a shift from COVID, from people that wanted historically to be in an open co-working area, versus ‘I want my own space, my own office space.’ So, I think that drove some of the demand as well.”

NextCorps, which fosters innovation by helping entrepreneurs, owns and occupies 40,210 square feet on Sibley’s sixth floor with room to expand totaling 27,540 square feet. The current space has 26 offices, 60 coworking desks, six conference rooms, and five wet labs, in addition to other facilities. 

The expansion would add 30 to 35 small and midsize offices, double the number of conference rooms, and increase the size of its kitchen area, which also serves as a networking space. Other ideas on the table include converting the historic tea room into an events area, with more room for prototyping and light manufacturing and assembly.

“We want to continue being the central hub of startup activity in the region, and having more startups, perhaps more partners, co-located, that’s another thing we’re really interested in exploring, perhaps doing more events and just bringing people back together on a much more frequent basis,” Senall says. “Having the right kind of spaces to do all those things is appealing to us.”

NextCorps has commitments for more than half of the funds needed for the expansion, Senall says. It plans to launch a capital campaign later this year to raise the rest, which will include naming rights to key spaces. Construction is expected to begin later this year. The new space is expected to open by mid-2026.

NextCorps is a University of Rochester affiliate that receives financial support from federal, state, and community funders, as well as individual donors. Its functional expenses last year totaled $11.2 million.

Since its move downtown in 2018, NextCorps has supported 796 companies, of which 186 participated in the incubation program. These startups created 612 jobs and raised $733 million in the 2018-2024 period.

NextCorps estimates that the 695 projects completed with local manufacturers during that time created or retained 6,602 manufacturing jobs and resulted in a total economic impact of $885 million.

Last year was a good one for NextCorps. Seventy startups are currently part of its incubation program. Senall says it “still blows my mind that there’s that many that we’re supporting.”

The Luminate NY accelerator program, which NextCorps administers, just announced its eighth cohort. With its global design, that program has given NextCorps more exposure.

“They’re going to be coming to town in another week or so for kickoff,” Senall says of Luminate’s new cohort. “So, all the things that go along with that, our climate tech programs and some others. It’s been very busy operating around six different programs, and we see the same this year as well.”

NextCorps is a partner in the Semiconductor Tech Hub for which activities are expected to begin soon. The Tech Hub aims to build a semiconductor ecosystem across areas like equitable workforce development and talent placement, research and commercialization pathways. 

While federal funding cuts loom large for many programs, the impact on NextCorps is unknown at this point. In a statement Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Schumer underscored his support for the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers (NextCorps is one of them) that might not receive funding next year.

“From Buffalo to Albany, MEP Centers have proven to be one of the best bangs for your buck investments the federal government can make helping create thousands of new good-paying jobs and billions in new investment throughout New York,” Schumer said. “These centers are how we attract new supply chains, get workers the hands-on training they need, and bring back jobs from overseas. Trump can’t be ushering in the Golden Age of American manufacturing while simultaneously decimating the program that helps American manufacturers thrive.”

Still, Senall is bullish about NextCorp’s future, given the multiyear nature of its own grants, and its regional approach to be the anchor point for startup activity and entrepreneurs. He would like to double down on activities and programs that are working. Collaborating with universities and national labs outside the region to commercialize technology is one item on NextCorp’s wish list.

“We could help form companies with these things and get them into startup land,” Senall says. “Right now, we’ve got all these great programs for ‘I have a startup. I’ve got this technology, I’ve got this team. How do you help me expand?’”

NextCorps’ connections nationwide could provide access to technologies ripe for commercialization.

“But do we have a big enough bench of entrepreneurs that could take these things and form businesses? It’s kind of a gap in our community right now,” Senall notes. “So, we’re thinking, how can we build that pool of people as well, and how can we also better connect the startup community? And so that gets into wanting to do a lot more events and more in-person stuff too.”

With physical room to serve more makers and investors and connect them with each other, NextCorps expects to keep building on its momentum.

Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor. 

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