King County, Wash. has launched a business incubator program called NextCycle Washington. | SCStock/Shutterstock
First there was Colorado NextCycle. Then there was NextCycle Michigan. Now, the next NextCycle has landed in Washington state.
King County, Wash. recently announced the launch of NextCycle Washington, an incubator program aimed at helping develop recycling businesses throughout the Evergreen State.
Launched by King County, which includes Seattle and many of its suburbs, the program provides access to business and technical support from three consulting firms: Resource Recycling Systems (RRS), Cascadia Consulting Group and Start Consulting Group.
“King County is dedicated to supporting businesses with promising circular economy projects that help expand waste prevention and recycling,” Emily Coleman, Circular Organics Program manager at King County, stated in a press release. “Through NextCycle Washington, businesses will get the essential resources they need to ready their projects for investment and implementation.”
Entrepreneurs, startups, small businesses, established corporations, nonprofit groups and collaborations of multiple entities that are involved in waste prevention, repair, reuse, recycling and composting can apply to be part of the six-month program, the release states.
Selected applicants are given access to a multi-day business boot camp, facilitated networking opportunities, engagement with community voices, identification of funding opportunities, connections to potential investors and help developing pitches to financiers.
Learn more in person
Leaders from the NextCycle program will be delivering an interactive workshop at the Resource Recycling Conference in Austin, Texas in August. It will feature market development experts as well as representatives from teams that have been honored by NextCyle in recent years. Sign up for the full conference today!
Funding for NextCycle Washington comes from King County’s Solid Waste Division, the Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Department of Commerce and Seattle Public Utilities. RRS, Cascadia, Start Consulting and Traversal Designs are providing technical support and program management.
Applications will be accepted through July 15.
The NextCycle Washington effort is modeled off earlier NextCycle programs. In 2018, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment launched Colorado NextCycle, and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) in 2021 launched NextCycle Michigan. RRS is already involved in both the Colorado and Michigan efforts.
A version of this story appeared in Resource Recycling on July 6.
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