SJBiz_NJIgniteDept_0719FINAL.QXD_Dept 7 / 19 / 19 12 : 20 PM Page 2 falls to the bottom of the pile . Ignite is the way to ease the burden on entrepreneurs and get them into these spaces . ” The benefits of working in incubators , co - working spaces and accelerators , are two - fold , says Diane Holtaway , associate director of marketing for the Rutgers Food Innovation Center , which has locations in Bridgeton and Piscataway and has been offering food - based businesses resources to succeed for over two decades . Not only do the facilities offer workspace , conference rooms , computers , phones and copy machines — facility resources that are critical in running a business — but they offer a place where entrepreneurs can have access to personal resources as well . “ So many businesses have the same questions , ” she says . “ They go through the same processes . Being in the same place en - ables them to learn from one another , in ad - dition to being surrounded by other experts in the field . Just by being in this one place is an extraordinary benefit to the business . ” Jennifer L . Maher , Esq . , CEO of 1776 , a startup incubator with a location inside the Cherry Hill Mall , agrees . “ Being an entrepreneur is an emotional roller coaster , ” she says . “ Being around like - minded people that are with you for the ebbs and flows , helping you to celebrate the big moments when you sign the big customers or land the big contract , or being able to moti - vate you to get back out there because it is a roller coaster , is a big deal . ” The Cherry Hill location of 1776 , which is one of the company’s 10 locations , is unique , too , not only because it is located in a 12,000 - square - foot section of the mall , but because it offers a 500 - square - foot Founder’s Market where its consumer - based entrepreneurs can sell their wares . “ It helps to make the barrier entry to sell - ing really low , ” Maher says . “ Our members SouthJerseyBiz.net | VOLUME 9 ISSUE 7 | SOUTH JERSEY BIZ | 25