Co-op founded for startup businesses

Dave Asher, executive director of LiveLocal Reno-Sparks, has founded a local business incubator designed to promote local business-to-business interaction and to help foster entrepreneurs.

Asher's local business co-op has leased 1,000 square feet at Vassar Street and Cordone Avenue from AMH Properties and will begin accepting tenants March 1. The goal is to create a co-working environment for smaller Truckee Meadows businesses, Archer says.

"It is designed for home-based business to come in and co-work, or for larger brick-and-mortars to downsize and share office space," he says.

Monthly rents at the Vassar Cordone co-op range from $50 to $200 per month, Asher says, and includes access to meeting and boardroom space, as well as WiFi, computers and desks.

"The co-working environment will be a think tank for entrepreneurs," he says. "We will hook them up with a series of classes to get them open and get them going."