The GroundFloor: Where Ideas, Professionals Collide

Connections and partnerships were top of mind for those at The GroundFloor ribbon-cutting in Havre de Grace Wednesday morning.

The new tech incubator in Swan Creek Village Center "is going to represent the first co-working space" in Harford County, said County Executive David Craig during the 11 a.m. grand opening event.

See photos of The GroundFloor.

According to Craig, the office will facilitate collaboration among people on and off post at Aberdeen Proving Ground, among others.

"A lot of technology that gets created on Aberdeen Proving Ground ultimately gets changed into something citizens use, and a lot of that is going to be done here," Craig said.

In fact, he noted that the Chesapeake Science & Security Corridor—a consortium of 50 agencies in Harford and surrounding jurisdictions—has relocated its headquarters from Aberdeen Proving Ground to the Swan Creek Village Center.

In addition, the county hopes freelancers, contractors and technology professionals will turn the nearly 2,700-square-foot space at The GroundFloor into their remote office.

"This is about working together cooperatively up and down the corridor," said Jim Richardson, director of the Harford County Office of Economic Development.

With its location "along the strategic corridor between Fort Meade and APG," Richardson said, "we've got the right resources in place to make tomorrow's next [big] thing happen here in Harford County."

Before the opening of the co-op on May 15, Richardson said that three people had signed up to use it. A representative for The GroundFloor said that three others signed up after the grand opening on Wednesday. Patch will cover these businesses in future articles.

Organizations around the region have signed on as partners with Harford County's Office of Economic Development in advisory and collaborative roles.

One of them is Betamore, a tech incubator in Federal Hill. 

"I wanted to build a place where I could build apps, where I could build web companies," Mike Brenner, founder of of Betamore, said in Havre de Grace on May 15.

"The fewer the walls, the better," Brenner added.

He explained: "We measure our success by collisions. Are people meeting each other, are people bumping into each other that wouldn't find each other?"

The Swan Creek Village Center was like a "coy pond" where people could expand their horizons, Brenner said.

He added that places like Google, Apple and Facebook had spaces similar to what is now open in Havre de Grace.

The GroundFloor has wireless internet, conference rooms, work stations, presentation areas and chalkboard walls.

It "provides a connective tissue to make sure that we provide support for the entrepreneurial and innovation community," Greg Simmons, an executive with bwtech@UMBC, a research and technology park in Baltimore County, said. His organization and Betatech are offering membership benefits to those who opt for premium membership at The GroundFloor.

For those interested in joining The GroundFloor, it costs $40 for basic membership (access five times monthly during business hours) and $100 for premium membership (unlimited access). It is located at 2012G Pulaski Highway in Havre de Grace. People can join online.