GOSHEN — When people hear the term “innovation center,” they may not think of the back half of a 58-year-old former dry cleaning building.

Then again, there are major companies in various industries that got their starts in someone’s garage, so perhaps downtown Goshen’s innovation center should be what comes to people’s minds.

“The word ‘innovation’ is funny. It’s just — compared to Innovation Park at Notre Dame — it’s very different,” said Eric Kanagy, who came up with the tag for the Goshen site. “It’s more the Elkhart County version.”

Inside the building are Kanagy’s RedPost electronic sign business, Devin Biek’s Motion Left Mopeds and a company, owned by Biek and Richard Worsham, that builds custom mo-peds and motorcycles.

There’s also engineering space for Lucid Energy.

“I think it’s a breeding ground for the next generation of companies, absolutely,” Worsham said of the center, and Elkhart County in general.

Kanagy said Elkhart County is uniquely suited for a resurgence in U.S. manufacturing.

“We keep making more and more, and actually there’s more manufacturing coming back to the U.S. now because of efficiency problems — labor’s rising in China, quality issues.

“Over the next 50 years, where in the U.S. are people going to build things? Elkhart (County) has a big niche,” Kanagy said.

Worsham said this area is “a deal for startups, not just RV startups. Starting up, if you don’t have a lot of network or connections, you can literally go out and say, ‘Here’s $500, build me something,’ and you have something in a week,” he said.

Kanagy said, “That’s the culture of this county. It’s a weird mix of Amish/Mennonite know-how and quality and inventiveness,” something that comes from the county’s agricultural roots. “You’re on a farm, you don’t just go out and buy stuff, you build it,” he said.

That know-how has helped Motion Left grow into a powerhouse in its niche. The company is “very rapidly becoming the largest handmade vintage part manufacturer in the country, if not the world. We are the largest in the country and there’s a good chance we’ll be the largest in the world, which is ridiculous,” he said, laughing. “But it’s a pretty small market.”

In addition to know-how, the community has great quality of life, Kanagy said. “A lot of our generation has, after school, gone and lived in a city, travelled, and now as people want to settle down, start a family, start a business, that’s where Elkhart County has a real place. It’s a great place to raise kids,” he said.

“Where local governments can help is the amenities, like the bike trails, like the streetscaping in downtown Goshen. Those are the kinds of things, I’ve been in Chicago a lot for work and I can come back here and feel like I’m in a mini urban area. It’s walkable, bikeable,” Kanagy said.

Worsham agreed, saying it’s “enjoyable. You’re not stressed about it, you’re not dodging potholes, you’re just enjoying it.”

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