BOLT Innovation Center: $81M project in Englewood aims to boost workforce, community development

The BOLT (Business Opportunity Learning and Technology) Innovation Center will be located on U.S. 40, on a 35-acre site just east of the Dayton Metro Library Northmont Branch.

The facility will house a Workforce Innovation Hub, with a goal to lower barriers to opportunity for a diverse group of entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses.

The WIH will be a collaborative effort with support from OhioMeansJobs, Learn to Earn Dayton, Sinclair College, University of Dayton, Wright State University, and local businesses.

“It will bring together dozens of early-stage businesses under one roof in a space that offers a built-in customer base, affordable rents, and support services,” planning documents state. “It will focus on innovation in the northern Dayton area and developing workers who are ready to fill needed positions in the region.”

Plans also include a full-service indoor sports complex, and both indoor and outdoor space to host community events, festivals, craft markets, and other activities.

The main components of the proposed facility are as follows:

- The Marketplace will include 7,000 square feet of leasable space for vendors via permanent vending stalls; 5,000 square feet of leasable business space for semi-independent retail/restaurant storefronts; 1,900 square feet of leasable Commissary Kitchen Space for young/growing businesses; and an outdoor Farmers Market Plaza adjacent to the indoor space where pop-up markets can be held.

- The Event Space will include a large, open-span, flexible indoor space that could accommodate indoor markets, craft fairs, banquets, or other events; and an outdoor amphitheater for concerts, theater productions, and more.

- The Workforce Innovation Hub will include a multi-tenant collaboration center for small businesses with leasable office suites and a shared community conference room; a meeting room; a job center; larger leasable office space; and a maker space, where visitors can access an art studio, 3D printers, robotics, computer equipment, tools for audio/video recording and editing, and more.

- The Sports Complex will include 14,000 square feet of indoor sports space, with turf fields, volleyball courts, pickleball courts, batting cages a walking track, a cafe, and community space.

The project, which will be completed in phases, will be completed using both private and public funding.

Funding secured so far includes a $500,000 grant from the Ohio One-Time Strategic Community Investment Fund has been received, and the NACF has applied for $5 million in funding via the Dayton Regional Priority Development and Advocacy Committee (PDAC).

The NACF will kick off a capital campaign soon to help fund the project, according to Chamber Executive Director Angie Clifford.

The campaign will allow the Foundation to build its “capital stack,” which can be used as matching funds for grants.

“We are also looking for partners in the construction and/or development area who would like to take advantage of the Transformational Mixed Use Development Tax Credit in Ohio,” Clifford said.

The TMUD tax credit program provides competitive tax credits for large-scale, multi-use retail, residential, office, or hotel projects that spur regional economic growth.