Stacey Feeley named executive director of 20Fathoms in Traverse City

Stacey Feeley has joined 20Fathoms as executive director, putting a serial entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience in charge of one of Traverse City’s main startup hubs as the region’s BlueTech economy gathers pace. The appointment was announced July 15 in Traverse City.

20Fathoms opened in 2018 and has grown into a startup incubator and coworking space aimed at tech startups and scalable businesses across Northwest Michigan. The organization says it helps founders with access to capital, expert coaching, workspace, educational programming, business resources and community support, a mix that makes its leadership one of the more consequential business posts in Grand Traverse County.

Feeley arrives after a period of rapid expansion at 20Fathoms. Major grant funding in 2024 allowed the organization to add staff, broaden programming and expand its geographic footprint, and by February 2025 it had brought on Peter Scott as its first entrepreneur in residence. In 2025, 119 professionals called the 20Fathoms coworking space home, a sign that the facility has become more than a meeting place for early-stage founders and has started to function as a daily workspace for a broader slice of the local innovation economy.

The leadership change lands as 20Fathoms deepens its BlueTech strategy. The organization and gener8tor launched the Northern Michigan BlueTech Accelerator in 2026 to back early-stage companies working on water infrastructure, monitoring, treatment and related freshwater solutions. 20Fathoms says the effort is tied to a larger push to build companies around the region’s freshwater assets, with Traverse City positioned as a place where water-tech startups can test ideas, find coaching and connect with investors.

That matters for local business formation and jobs. More startup support can help keep founders from leaving the county, draw outside capital into downtown Traverse City and create work for engineers, designers, marketers and operators who might otherwise head for larger metro areas. It also gives established small businesses another path to scale inside Northwest Michigan rather than outside it.

The local ecosystem around 20Fathoms is already showing activity. Four Northern Michigan startups were selected to pitch at the July 14 TCNewTech event, where the prizes included $5,000 for first place, $1,000 finalist awards and a $500 audience favorite award. Northwestern Michigan College has also said it will break ground Sept. 12 on the Freshwater Research & Innovation Center on Grand Traverse Bay, a project meant to anchor more water innovation in the region.

Traverse Connect describes the Grand Traverse region as the economic hub of Northern Michigan and has promoted BlueTech and blue-economy business development there. With 20Fathoms, gener8tor and Northwestern Michigan College all investing in that lane, Feeley’s job now sits at the center of a cluster that could shape how much startup activity, talent and investment stay in Grand Traverse County.