Page 12 - 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report - City of Winston-Salem

Local entrepreneurs and innovators meet for VENTURE CAFE, which
o ers weekly presentations and networking opportunities.

TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Encompassing 337 acres and 1.9 million square feet of Also on the Innovation Quarter campus is The Center
o ce, laboratory and classroom space, Wake Forest for Design Innovation, a joint e ort by Forsyth
Innovation Quarter is one of the fastest-growing urban Technical Community College, the UNC School of the
innovation districts in the United States. Medical and Arts and Winston-Salem State University. The
biomedical research organizations thriving in Innovation 25,000-square-foot building includes a 60-by-60-foot-
Quarter include the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative space known as “the Cube,” one of the largest dedicated
Medicine (WFIRM), whose researchers were the rst in spaces for motion-capture research in the Southeast.
the world to engineer laboratory-grown organs that Other organizations in the CDI building are Flywheel, a
were successfully implanted into humans. Today, the team 24/7 co-working environment with spaces available for
is working to engineer more than 30 di erent replacement lease on an as-needed or temporary basis and the
tissues and organs and to develop healing cell therapies. Center for the Creative Economy, which supports a
About 20 academic departments of Wake Forest burgeoning creative sector that includes design,
Baptist Medical Center, Forsyth Technical Community architecture, advertising, interactive gaming, and more.
College, and Winston-Salem State University are Much of Innovation Quarter’s redevelopment has been
located there. In addition, Wake Forest University has the result of more than $800 million of investments,
established Wake Downtown, an undergraduate much of it from Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, a
satellite campus o ering bachelor of science degrees in BioMed Realty Company. The City has been a major
engineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, mechanical player in supporting Innovation Quarter, along with
chemistry and drug discovery. In all, about 1,800 degree- Forsyth County and the State of North Carolina. Much of
seeking students are attending programs in the the investment has leveraged historic tax credits
technology park. approved by the National Park Service.
With the redevelopment of Bailey Power Plant, the In summer 2018, Wexford announced a new minority-
former power-generating station for the Reynolds and women-owned business initiative to be located in
factories, the renovation and repurposing of the existing the Innovation Quarter and run by an independent
buildings in Innovation Quarter is complete. Bailey Power local non-pro t or government agency. The aim of the
Plant, with its iconic smokestacks and more than 111,000 initiative will be to encourage, support and accelerate
square feet of space, is now home to Alma Mexicana, a local small businesses and start-ups founded by women
Tex-Mex restaurant; Incendiary Brewing, Winston-Salem’s and minorities.
seventh brewery; and Venture Café, which hosts
hundreds of local entrepreneurs and innovators for Nearby, MIXXER Studios provides a state-of-the-art
“makerspace” for artisans and craftspeople. MIXXER
Thursday night workshops and opportunities to mix,
mingle and learn from one another. Front Street Capital, members have access to equipment for working with
traditional materials like wood, metal and textiles, as well
a private equity real estate company in Winston-Salem,
has said it will redevelop other portions of the building as more modern tech like laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC
machinery, and computers with art design software.
into o ce and retail space.

6 2018 AN NUAL R E P O R T