MAY 21-JUNE 17, 2015 • THE CSRA’S MONTHLY BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Innovation Academy offers entrepreneurs place to work By Gary Kauffman Keith Edmondson is in business for himself and the sole employee of his business. Yet several times a week he enjoys being around dozens of “co-workers.” Edmondson, who owns Augusta Sports League, is one of 45 entrepreneurs and small business owners who avail themselves to the Innovation Academy, located in the old Richmond Academy building on Telfair Street. Innovation Academy, which includes The Clubhou.se that had been on Broad Street, opened in November as a place where entrepreneurs and small business owners could gather. It gives them an office space, and access to technology like an electronics lab and a computer lab they might not be able to afford on their own. It’s a valuable as-
set to budget-conscious entrepreneurs. For $99 a month, they can use the space as often as they want. For Edmondson, the Innovation Academy has increased his work output over his home office. “I get a lot more work done here,” he said. “I get way distracted at the house.” Plus there’s the advantage of having other people, his “co-workers,” around him. “There’s the opportunity to fellowship,” he said. “When you’re a one-man show, it’s great to be able to share what’s going on and to get some feedback.” That is exactly the atmosphere Grace Belangia and Eric Parker were going for when See INNOVATION ACADEMY, page 2 Dale Green of Konica Minolta shows some of the products that can be produced with 3-D printers sold by Pollock Company. Photo by Gary Kauffman
Pollock marks 50 years with Tech Expo
Keith Edmondson in his “office” at the Innovation Academy. Photo by Gary Kauffman
By Gary Kauffman Standing among the avant garde of 3-D printer technology, Joe Pollock seemed a world removed from the company his father started in 1965. Back then, the cutting edge technology involved typewriters and mechanical adding machines. Pollock said his father couldn’t have imagined the types of products Pollock Company sells today when he started the company. “No one could have,” Pollock said. Pollock Company celebrated its 50th an-
niversary May 12 and 13 by holding a Technology Expo at the Marriott Convention Center. It was a celebration of how a company can adapt to the changes of the modern world to continue serving its customers. The technology on display would have seemed like science fiction in 1965, and is even a little hard to believe in 2015. The stars of the show were the 3-D printers that can be used to create scale models of products, See POLLOCK, page 6