By Craig Anderson

MIDDLETOWN — The latest Business Incubator & Collaborative Workspace in the area is the biggest yet.

A Middletown Area Chamber of Commerce-operated initiative has an eye on assisting enterprises and entrepreneurs to grow in the rapidly expanding southern New Castle County community, its executive director Michelle Hummel said.

The approximately 3,750-square-foot location includes 12 private office spaces, meeting and conference rooms for rent, a café, printer services, podcast capacity and drop-in professional space, among other offerings. It can be found at 651 N. Broad St., Suite 306.

“We found that there was a need in the community for businesses to have space, but there was not much to be found,” Ms. Hummel said.

There are three private office rooms currently available, she added.

The chamber once hosted the program at smaller sites on North Cass Street and Industrial Drive, beginning in 2015, before entering the newly designed site within the chamber’s office, which opened May 1.

In promoting the incubator, the chamber said its mission is “to inspire entrepreneurship through opportunity” and to support “business and economic growth through entrepreneurship for the MOT Area.”

“The intention is that either you can come in, and we’re going to help you get your startup going on your way to becoming something bigger for yourself or ready for a storefront, or there’s also some places where this collaborative workspace works better than working from home,” Ms. Hummel said.

“We have a lot of different reasons why people are using the space.”

A grand opening for the chamber office will be held noon to 3 p.m. Thursday, with a ribbon cutting at 1.

For information, email info@maccde.com, call 302-378-7545, visit maccde.com or drop into the chamber’s office.