MEGAN GRAHAM; ANDREW NELLES/BLUE SKY

In the last five years, coworking spaces of every size, shape and focus have hit Chicago’s Loop and surrounding areas.

But in an 85-year-old bank building in one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods, Blue 1647 founder Emile Cambry ⇒ and an Englewood business development group are trying to pull that momentum south.

Cambry is bringing the concept of his Pilsen-based entrepreneurship and technology center to Englewood as part of a partnership with the Greater Englewood Community Development Center. Blue 1647 Greater Englewood, which began accepting applications last week, will include a food-focused business accelerator, a coworking space and a workforce development center inside the U.S. Bank building at 815 W. 63rd St.

The space had a soft opening event last week to let community members take a look around the brightly colored space.

Cambry said businesses will be able to move into the accelerator and coworking portion on May 1, with hopes of the workforce development center opening by June.

The accelerator will focus on food but accept other company types. Cambry said he thinks it will be structured in 12-week bootcamps, with workshops in legal, finance, accounting, marketing and strategy. Blue 1647 will not take equity in companies, he said.

A second phase will include office space and a commercial kitchen for companies focusing on food science and technology, Cambry said. The new facility is across the street from a future Whole Foods, which has met with Englewood food businesses about sourcing items in the store.

“In the greater Englewood area, we just noticed a trend with food entrepreneurs and thought, let’s go for it,” Cambry said.

Cambry said the accelerator and coworking space combined will accept about 50 people to start. Englewood’s Blue 1647 hasn’t yet established membership fees, but the organization hopes to keep costs uniform across locations, Cambry said. Basic memberships at the Pilsen location begin at $25 a month.

U.S. Bank is leasing the space to Blue 1647 Greater Englewood for free, said Eva Brown, the bank’s vice president and community development manager for Chicago. She said the facility will give entrepreneurs workspace in a neighborhood that hasn’t historically offered it.  

Glen Fulton, executive director of the Greater Englewood CDC, said he hopes the facility’s offerings will spur jobs that will stay in the neighborhood.  

“You talk about Englewood and you hear negative things,” he said. “This right here changes the conversation immediately. It’s not talking about guns or crime — it’s talking about small business, technology training for the future.”