Pierce County is a great place to start and grow a business. An abundance of local resources and support are readily available to help make that happen.

Specialized incubators

• Maritime Blue – Tacoma Maritime Innovation Incubator (marine innovation and entrepreneurs)
• RAIN Incubator (biotech)
• Spaceworks Tacoma (first-time business owners, creative professionals)
• VIBE (Veterans Incubator for Better Entrepreneurship)

Technical assistance

• Make It Tacoma (resources to start and grow a business)
• Pierce County Community Navigator Program (Pierce County Economic Development hub-and-spoke resource network)
• Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) – Tacoma Business Center
• SCORE Mentors of South Sound/Tacoma
• Washington Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) Pierce County
• Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC)

Financial assistance/venture capital funding

• Business Impact NW (coaching, classes, and loans to BIPOC, women, military-connected, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and Latinx entrepreneurs)
• City of Tacoma small business loan programs
• Tacoma Venture Fund (connecting founders with investment capital)

Networking

• New Tech Tacoma (tech workers)
• Startup253 (home for Tacoma’s start-up community)
• Tacoma Entrepreneur Network (students exploring entrepreneurial career paths)
• Tacoma Green Drinks (environmental field workers)
• University of Washington Tacoma SET Entrepreneurs Club (support and education for current and future tech entrepreneurs)

Co-working space

• The Pioneer Collective
• Spaceworks Tacoma
• Surge Tacoma and Surge South Tacoma
• TractionSpace
• Union Club
• WorkSphere

Get connected

If you have questions or would like help connecting with resources and support, contact Tamsin Bell, EDB Vice President of Business Development, at tamsin@edbtacomapierce.org or 253-284-5889.