Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 29, 1995 TAG: 9508290050
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The grant doubles the money available to start an project, which is a business location suited to the needs of new small companies. Roanoke accountant Hope Player and others who have pushed the concept for eight years said the facility is to open by April 1.
The Roanoke area is suited for an incubator because it has the intellectual and technological wherewithal to spawn businesses that can compete globally, Robert G. Templin Jr., president of the CIT, said when he announced the grant.
"Roanoke has the potential of being a global technology hot spot," Templin said during a news conference at Roanoke Regional Airport.
Quoting a survey by CorpTech, an information company in Woburn, Mass., he said the Roanoke area ranked 14th nationally in telecommunications jobs.
Although no site for the incubator has been announced, proponents have their eye on a building in Roanoke outside downtown. A location in the city was chosen to meet criteria for a federal grant to be sought later.
At least 50 companies have inquired about incubator space, said Phil Sparks, the city's acting chief of economic development.
The technology center's one-time gift brings to $460,000 the amount of government money committed to the project. The CIT, in Herndon, was created by the state in 1984 to spread technology and help others create jobs. It is 85 percent state-funded.
Incubator proponents have received earlier pledges of $200,000 from the state and $60,000 from Roanoke. A fund-raising campaign is under way to raise $100,000 from private companies and individuals.
The money will go toward renting or buying a building, equipping it with office machines to be shared by tenant businesses, and hiring an incubator manager and receptionist. The businesses would pay for use of their production areas or offices and for the services of the manager, a volunteer advisory board of business experts, a receptionist, a janitor and a security guard.
For a fee, the tenant businesses could make copies, send faxes, hire a secretary, rent a computer and purchase other support services without having to incur the usual overhead.
Entrepreneurs often locate in incubators during the difficult first few years of operations. Business-development experts say that factor increases their chances for success.
As a benefactor of the Roanoke incubator, the CIT will take a special interest in helping its tenants draw on outside expertise at 13 technology development centers at state universities and five CIT-affiliated federal laboratories, Templin said.
by CNB