Paulette Perttunen, Innovate Marquette SmartZone operations and finance administrator, helps set up a portal for people to submit ideas to Invent@NMU. The portal is located at the Ampersand Coworking Space. (Journal photo by Christie Bleck)

MARQUETTE — The business world requires innovation — even the small business world.

Invent@NMU and Innovate Marquette SmartZone celebrated its collaboration Thursday at the new Ampersand Coworking space located in the U.P. Masonic Center along Washington Street in Marquette.

Invent@NMU gives students real-world experience and helps clients bring physical products from concept to market. Northern Michigan University students, under the guidance of professional mentors, develop competitive skill sets related to design, manufacturing and marketing, and provide this expertise to a variety of clients.

Its success stories include the novelty string lights, “Original Cheese Lights” — which look like miniature cheese wedges — with “Two Cheesy Chicks” the company name. The inventors, Nichole Lackey and Lorri Smith, received help from a student team with computer-aided design and building 3-D printed prototypes, according to NMU.

Those lights were on display at the Ampersand gathering.

The Innovate Marquette SmartZone supports the accelerated creation and growth of technology-based businesses in Marquette. It offers services, training, mentoring and networking programs for tech-based start-up ideas and new business creation.

Invent@NMU and Innovate Marquette SmartZone are located at 1401 Presque Isle Ave., at the roundabout at Presque Isle and Fair avenues.

The purpose of the Thursday event at Ampersand, however, was to give an opportunity for the community to connect with management and student teams.

Ray Johnson, chief executive officer of the SmartZone, called the event a “relaunch.”

“Anybody can walk in, whether it’s low-tech, high-tech or no-tech,” Johnson said of Invent@NMU, which helps inventors. “We can help you with a team of students.”

Its footprint has been expanded, he said, with small business owners contacting Invent@NMU for help on things like marketing or social media.

“We’re able to support them as well,” Johnson said.

He also noted an online portal, which was designed by students, is being launched so anyone can pitch a product idea, he said.

“It’ll lead you through a couple questions, and then you submit the idea, and then our team will do some work remotely, and get back to you,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to break down all the barriers.”

The portal is located at Ampersand, where Johnson said Invent@NMU also will have a desk.

At 5,200 square feet, Ampersand can provide enough room for 50 people to work side-by-side in a variety of workspaces, and includes private offices, semi-private desks and open work stations available to rent by the day, week, month or year.

Its website, ampersandco.work, lists among its amenities internet access, mail service, bicycle storage and “more free coffee than you can drink.”

One of the tenants is the Marquette Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber Executive Director Jason Schneider said a grand opening for Ampersand is expected for early to mid-March.

“There’s some finishing touches, primarily signage and a few embellishments that we really want to get finished,” Schneider said.

He said Ampersand already has five businesses operating out of the facility, with another 18 that have signed up and are waiting to move in following those finishing touches.

NMU senior Heather Cook is a marketing and communications writer for Invent@NMU.

She initially became involved as a special projects worker to write content for its website.

“The reason I came on is because I know it’s such a great opportunity on campus and I’m really passionate about the work that I got to do, and I’m so happy that I got to be a part of it,” Cook said. “They give us a lot of freedom and they give us a lot of room to really work and express what we’ve learned in our education through the actual work.

And it’s nice because we are actual workers. We’re not just interns.”

For more information, visit innovatemarquette.org and invent.nmu.edu.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal.net.