Creative energy floods the hallways. It’s located in the heart of downtown Wilmington. And it’s Zip Code Wilmington’s new home.
Zip Code Wilmington is now located on the fourth floor of the Nemours Building (1007 N Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801), in of one of the city’s most popular startups, The Mill.
Although our physical move was just one city block, in the process we’ve added more than 1,000 square feet of workspace and joined a community of innovators.
The Mill is a co-working space that serves members ranging from freelance designers and developers to a marketing agency and credit card company, and everything in-between. The Mill is a community of ambitious people who get work done in a creative and fun environment.
Although The Mill offers some tantalizing features to members (use of Theatre N, 24/7 access, a full kitchen, ping-pong table, and phone booths for private calls), the move for Zip Code Wilmington was more about alignment and growth than the amazing list of amenities.
Head of School Melanie Augustin explains, “We moved because we were looking to expand and we loved the atmosphere and energy here at The Mill. There is a lot of synergy among the startups and small businesses that will be of great benefit to our students.”
What’s in it for Zip Code Wilmington students?
More space equals more of everything. The biggest news is that the new space will provide Zip Code more room to offer classes in multiple technologies. We gained a larger dev floor, a breakout classroom, and additional staff offices.
In addition to the multiple classes added to our boot camp program, Zip Code is exploring other non-immersive courses to offer that fit the growing needs of local businesses and coders.
In an interview with the News Journal, Tariq Hook, Zip Code’s director of education says, “Right now with our current space, if our alumni decide to come back for an event, we can’t accommodate them, but The Mill has plenty of spillover space for tutors, mentors, events or whatever.”
Creativity spurs creativity. Zip Code’s leadership team hopes the closer proximity to the innovative and hardworking entrepreneurs in The Mill will inspire students. Interacting with entrepreneurs can give students a better sense of how the skills they are learning will be applied in the real world. Or, students may be inspired to start their own businesses with their new coding knowledge.
Zip Code Wilmington’s Growth
In two short years, Zip Code Wilmington has made strides as Delaware’s first coding school. We’ve already graduated 140 students, and we’re continuing to grow. Zip Code was nationally recognized by the Obama Administration as a model for innovative tech education in 2016. Also, we’ve partnered with some of the top businesses in the region. With new partnerships on the horizon, new languages and technologies being added to the curriculum, and an expansion of our staff, Zip Code expects to grow by leaps and bounds.
It’s only right that our space reflects and sets the tone for Zip Code Wilmington’s future endeavors.
