Scott Goss

The News Journal

Two of the most prominent names in Wilmington's nascent startup community are joining forces.

The coding boot camp Zip Code Wilmington will move one block southwest this summer to an as-yet unfinished section of The Mill, a coworking space on the fourth floor of the Nemours Building.

The new space will give Zip Code room to add a second programming course while ensuring their new headquarters is designed to meet the school's needs.

Head of School Melanie Augustin said the move has benefits beyond meeting the nonprofit's practical needs.

"There's certainly a lot of synergy being here with the energy they have at The Mill," she said. "The startup atmosphere and innovation that's going on is what we're really looking forward to being a part of and contributing to, as well."

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For The Mill, landing Zip Code as a tenant means filling the third and final phase of construction – a 7,200-square-foot wing slated for completion by Sept. 1.

Founder Robert Herrara said incorporating the intensive coding school into the lineup of startups and "solopreneurs" already at The Mill will help cement the new economy culture he's trying to build.

"I think we're both two exciting ventures in Wilmington that are changing the perception of downtown," he said. "And I think this is one of those cases where one plus one doesn't equal two. It equals 10."

Both Zip Code and The Mill are technically startups themselves.

Founded by a pair of du Pont heirs and the CEO of Epic Research, Zip Code began offering intensive, 12-week courses in the computer programming language Java in late 2015. The school provides graduates with a 6-month job at one of a dozen Delaware businesses. Those employers pay a placement fee that covers all but $3,000 of the students' tuition, while paying graduates an average salary $62,000 year.

Currently located on the third floor of the I.M. Pei Building at 1105 Market St., the school was recognized by former President Barrack Obama as a model for the nation before it even began.

To date, Zip Code has trained 117 Java developers while posting an 87 percent graduation rate. Most who finish the course land a full-time job within three months of graduating, Augustin said.

The school now has four instructors and plans to add a small course for 5 to 10 students in the programming languages Javascript and Python after the move.

"Right now with our current space, if our alumni decide to come back for an event, we can't accommodate them," said Tariq Hook, Zip Code's director of education. "But The Mill has plenty of spillover space for tutors, mentors, events or whatever."

The Mill became Wilmington's premier coworking space when its 12,000-square-foot Phase I wing opened last April. A second, 10,000-square-foot wing was completed last month.

The space now includes about 20 private offices, some with room for just one to two people, while others can fit four to eight. The Mill offers another 34 rentable desks available for $350 a month and four conference rooms available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Roughly 60 "solopreneurs" and freelancers also have paid a $45 community membership fee to set up shop at a 28-foot, custom-built docking station or several sit-stand desks.

All members get free Wi-Fi access, a discount card to area restaurants and CoreTen Fitness on the first floor, access to The Mill's full kitchen and working bar sponsored by Dogfish Head Brewery, and the opportunity to hold events in Theatre N, the art house theater in the same building.

Augustin and Hook said they hope Zip Code's closer proximity to those entrepreneurs will inspire students, give them a better sense of how the skills they are learning can be applied to the real world and allow them to form relationships that could lead to future employment.

"I'm really hoping some mentorships develop," Augustin said. "I'd love to see some of our Zip Coders form their own startups."

Current tenants at The Mill say they are equally excited about the arrival of Zip Code.

Kevin Dombrowski, a senior vice president of global business development for the publicly-traded investment research firm Morningstar, works remotely from a one-man office at The Mill.

"I think Zip Code is one of those exciting education disruptors that does the whole public-private thing right," he said. "I think it's one of the most exciting, new things going on in Wilmington. Bringing them to The Mill will only bring additional energy and creativity to what's going on here."

Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.