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Railway Coastal Museum to be renamed

Railway Coastal Museum welcomes Genesis Coworking to the building, now renamed The Johnson Innovation Station

ANDREW WATERMAN THE TELEGRAM andrew.waterman @thetelegram.com @Andrewlwaterman

It was full steam ahead at half capacity with the announcement that the Railway Coastal Museum in St. John's will be renamed The Johnson Innovation Station now that Genesis Coworking, a non-profit business and technology incubator that is part of Memorial University, will share the building with the museum.

“This is a very exciting partnership that will cultivate community, economic and entrepreneurial activity, all within the context of this historic facility,” Mayor Danny Breen said. “In this space, we will look to the future … while celebrating milestones of the past.”

From 1898 to 1988, the Newfoundland Railway connected and opened the province to economic development,

Breen said.

“And here we are today, over 100 years later, announcing a new techbased partnership that will drive us forward, open our economy and create new opportunities for tomorrow,” he said.

The new name is in honour of the late Paul Johnson, who created the museum, and whose contribution Breen said made this new arrangement possible.

Federal Natural Resources Minister Seamus O'regan said the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) will be making a “solid investment” of $95,000.

“Today is symbolic. The people who built this building did not do it so that innovative young companies would have a place to grow and learn from one another,” he said. “When they laid the foundation at our feet, they intended it to be for commuters, not for computers. … Yet here we are. We've adapted.”

For Education Minister Tom Osborne,

it is homegrown companies that generate employment and create talent and wealth.

“Genesis has grown to be a crucial start-up ecosystem partner and it is vital to our IT sector,” he said. “I'm very honoured to say that we are putting the investment as a province into this new model (and) into this building.”

Genesis is a classic example of the work the university does as an economic driver in the province, Memorial University President Vianne Timmons said.

“(We) aim to support entrepreneurs, create innovative companies, attract talent and investment to this province and create jobs for Newfoundland and Labrador,” she said.

Together, Genesis companies have raised $620 million in private capital, represent $220 million in annual reoccurring revenues and have created more than 2,000 jobs, Genesis director of finance and administration with Colin Corcoran said.

Genesis Coworking will now occupy the upper two floors of this building, he said.

“Complimenting the coworking model, this place will now become the new home of the evolution program, our pre-incubation, idea accelerator, that has worked with over 300 companies to date,” he said.

Ron Penney is the chair of the Railway Coastal Museum board and put together the proposal to operate the museum as a community based, seasonal operation.

They plan to open to the public on June 26 and remain open until the day after Labour Day.

“Depending on how we do, we hope to have a seasonal operation over Christmas and perhaps even extend it to weekends,” he said. “I'm confident that we will be able to work together to make this new relationship work to our mutual benefit.”

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2021-05-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-05-08T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://saltwire.pressreader.com/article/281878711247755

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