IT services provider Kosh Solutions was already a four-year-old company with $600,000 in revenue and seven employees when it moved into the WESST Enterprise Center in December 2009.
Co-founders Josh Fristoe and Koert Council launched the firm in Las Cruces in September 2005, building the business from scratch on their own. But when they decided to expand to Albuquerque, they turned to WESST.
“We were the first company to move into the Enterprise Center,” Fristoe said. “We helped WESST design the data infrastructure and network for the building.”
The company grew rapidly, moving within a few years from an initial 200-square-foot office into a 1,000-square-foot space at the incubator. Apart from infrastructure and mentoring, WESST provided networking opportunities for Kosh to build its customer base, plus a loan to buy equipment.
Kosh left the incubator in 2014. It now employs 38 people in Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Farmington, with $4.5 million in revenue as of last year.
While still at WESST, Kosh forged a partnership with another incubator tenant, Medical Practice Solutions. The two companies jointly leased a facility after leaving WESST, and in 2017, they bought a building together near Journal Center.
“Cohabiting with other businesses and building peer-to-peer relationships is a big part of what WESST does,” Fristoe said. “It’s been great.”
