The Center at Sixth, a planned market and business incubator supporting entrepreneurs from underserved communities, has secured a $700,000 grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation. The funds will be used to complete construction of a two-story commercial and residential space at 1714 6th Ave. in Des Moines, with an expected completion date of fall 2024.

The building will have 9,000 square feet, including an on-site commercial kitchen and an indoor market where small business tenants can directly sell their products.

“Wells Fargo understands our vision for the Center at Sixth and has stepped up to make it a reality,” Marquas Ashworth said in a prepared statement. Ashworth, a Des Moines entrepreneur and a member of the Business Record’s 2023 40 under 40 class, is spearheading the project.

The incubator has helped launch businesses such as Nadia’s French Bakery and Jambo African Cuisine by helping them with startup costs and other logistics. Staff from Center at Sixth and the Evelyn K. Davis Center helped Nadia’s owner Blandine Nadia Ahissou find commercial kitchen space, sell her goods at the Downtown Farmer’s Market and move into a storefront, which will open in January, the release said.

“Nadia’s is an example of what we’re hoping to achieve with the Center at Sixth, but in greater numbers,” Ashworth said in the release. “Having kitchen and retail space in one location will make it possible for us to help more people turn ideas into viable businesses.”

In 2022, the project received a $3 million grant from Iowa’s Nonprofit Innovation Fund, and a $300,000 matching grant from the city of Des Moines. The donation from Wells Fargo is the largest from a private foundation to date, according to the release.

“Small businesses add life and joy to our neighborhoods, and as the Bank of Doing, we’re committed to helping them succeed financially,” said Laura Howe, regional banking executive at Wells Fargo.

The name the Center at Sixth pays homage to the former Center Street business district, once the core of Des Moines’ Black small business community until its demise during the construction of Interstate 235 in the late 1950s.