Students with an entrepreneurial bent attending California State University Northridge will have a new place to go this year to meet with likeminded colleagues and receive professional coaching and mentoring. The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator is moving this summer into a new 2,200-square-foot office on Reseda Avenue a short walk from the university. LACI@CSUN Executive Director Kevin Randolph said that with easy accessibility, the location will have the feel of a clubhouse or a Starbucks that serves up encouragement for startup companies instead of coffee. “It will be a gathering place for students, faculty and entrepreneurs to come together and share their ideas on where they want to go and how they want to get there,” he added. The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator was founded by the city in 2011 with a mission to accelerate the growth of green tech companies. To date it has collected more than 30 startups into its portfolio. The incubator came to the CSUN campus in 2014 and was located in two trailers on the north end off Lindley Avenue. The trailers will continue to be used, Randolph said, but the Reseda Avenue location is where most work will be done in bringing startups to life. One success story from the campus incubator is Pick My Solar, a startup from 2012 CSUN grad Max Aram. The company created a platform for certified solar panel installers to bid on work requested by area residents. Aram is now working out of the downtown location of the incubator, Randolph said, adding, “We are real proud of Max.” Whereas the downtown facility requires that its startups have a sustainability component to them, the charter in Northridge is much broader. Its small portfolio of companies is found in health and human services, education and fitness in addition to Pick My Solar and FreeWire Technologies, a San Leandro startup recycling batteries from electric cars for generators whose executive team Randolph advises and coaches. – Mark R. Madler