LAKELAND, Fla — New growth in Lakeland and one non-profit is helping not just bring entrepreneurs to Lakeland but also helping them succeed.
Catapult is located near Hollis Garden on Lake Mirror and is a hub for all sorts of new business owners and innovators.
Inside, you'll find a co-working space, a full commercial kitchen, and a full maker space with a metal and wood shop and 3-D printers, creating an incubator for people to connect.
"So we have people who are in manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, pre-restaurant concepts, we have marketing, businesses, tech companies, all of those working out of the same space. And we think that ecosystem is what really can help businesses grow faster because you might be working alongside of somebody who's an engineer, and help we can help you problem solve or if you don't know how to do social media marketing, there's probably somebody in the building who can help with that. So fostering the collaboration and the connections between the different industries is really a fun part of our job," explains Christin Strawbridge, President of Catapult.
Catapult is a privately funded non-profit with a nearly $ 1.4 million budget.
50% of that comes from membership dues, and the rest is through donations and fundraising opportunities.
Together- their goal is to help people create and scale their businesses.
"So our goal is that everybody, whether they start here, they come to us in some part of their journey. But eventually, they get out into a space of their own, whether that's a warehouse, a restaurant, or a headquarters for a technology company, we want to be creating the next round of businesses in Lakeland that are going to help propel us to the future, whether that's a third space for us to enjoy outside of work, or it's a company that's going to employ our kids and our grandkids in the future," says Strawbridge.
Catapult opened its current building in 2020 but it's been in Lakeland for 10 years.
More than 40 businesses have gone on to open their own brick and mortar, maybe the most well-known in Lakeland is the Born and Bread Bakehouse.
For Strawbridge, watching the businesses grow and succeed is the best part of the job.
"It's what gets me out of bed every day because I get to say, okay, how am I gonna get to have an impact? And how are we as Catapult going to get to have an impact on the city that has made me who I am," says Strawbridge.
