The Cole Foundation, IPFW-SBMS, City of Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana Innovation Center jointly fund the CEE program. The program began March 1, 2002, and the CEE’s annual budget is approximately $100,000.
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 The U.S. Small Business Administration administers the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program to provide general business assistance to current and prospective small business owners. SBDCs (and similar programs) differ from business incubators in that they do not specifically target early-stage companies; they often serve small businesses at any stage of development. Some business incubators partner with SBDCs and share management in order to avoid duplicating business assistance services in a region.
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Adjunct instruction of formal education through MBA level entrepreneurial education at regional universities, Entrepreneurial Skill Development through continuing education/studies programs, cohort group experiences peer group, entrepreneurial fellows, entrepreneurs in residence; Tech Transfer Center for (Higher Education, Medical Community, Corporate Community; comprehensive Business Assistance as defined in the first question (residents, affiliates, partners); and community building services to build and grow not for profit organizational effectiveness (Incubator without walls for Not-for-Profit Organizations)
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Incubators help client companies secure capital in a number of ways: Managing in-house and revolving loan and microloan funds, connecting companies with angel investors (high-net-worth individual investors), working with companies to perfect venture capital presentations and connecting them to venture capitalists, and assisting companies in applying for bank loans.
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Today, there are about 1,000 business incubators in North America, up from only 12 in 1980. There are about 4,000 business incubators worldwide. The incubation model has been adapted to meet a variety of needs, from fostering commercialization of university technologies to increasing employment in economically distressed communities to serving as investment vehicles.
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We are a community based technology incubator. Additionally, we embrace and model the best practices of the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA). Some of those best practices include: a selection process for admittance; business assistance programs; established parameters for graduation; and provide office space and services for business launches. Also, other providers of business support do not offer the combination of services or high-level support we offer. (ie. Tech transfer, VC, partnerships, acceleration of your businesses success.)
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In general, available space is determined by client needs and NIIC capacity. Such variables as client staff size, wet or dry lab requirements, and client-owned equipment are taken into consideration.
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The NIIC was founded as a non-profit organization in December, 1999. In October, 2000, a CEO was recruited and temporary offices were established at the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce. In August of 2001, the NIIC’s first campus at the Raytheon building on Production Road became fully operational.
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Beyond the extensive and affordable business accommodations and amenities available to NIIC residents, there are numerous other benefits offered to clients, both resident and affiliate:
· Access to our large network of Angel investors and other sources of venture capital and business funding.
· Our professional staff of trainers, coaches and subject matter experts to guide you smoothly through business operations, new product innovation, and market commercialization.
· Publicity and promotion through frequent and regular exposure in state, regional and local business publications and news outlets.
· Being part of a committed group of energetic entrepreneurs with like-minded goals, ambitions and industry clusters. The many opportunities for mutual support, inter-company cooperation, and knowledge sharing make business venture formation at the NIIC a “community” experience, with the camaraderie, peer support and intellectual stimulation reminiscent of a college campus.
· Direct access to the NIIC network of business service providers, from tax, accounting and financial planning assistance, to legal representation, patenting and intellectual property protection, competitive and market research, advertising, marketing, public relations, and sales promotion, just to mention a few …
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The CEE is a knowledge hub (one stop resource for entrepreneurs) and catalyst for the promotion of entrepreneurial activity and success in Northeast Indiana. It is designed to meet the need, identified in the Strategic Development Group study of northeast Indiana, for more higher-level, sophisticated and complex needs [product development, marketing, gap financing, research, strategy] of all entrepreneurs through the vehicles of entrepreneurship education, experiential learning/growth and consulting.
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Business incubators nurture the development of entrepreneurial companies, helping them survive and grow during the start-up period, when they are most vulnerable. Business incubators provide their client companies with business support services and resources tailored to young firms. These services and resources include management guidance, assistance with business planning, and help obtaining financing. Incubators typically also offer companies rental space with flexible leases, shared basic office services and access to equipment – all under one roof. The main goal of most business incubation programs is to produce companies that create jobs and wealth in their communities.
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The Northeast Indiana Innovation Center was formed through a collaboration of the City of Fort Wayne, Allen County, the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, and Indiana-Purdue University of Fort Wayne (IPFW).
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Yes! The Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence (CEE) will work with existing businesses that have recognized the need for development of entrepreneurial endeavors, growth imperatives, and innovation initiatives within their organizations. The CEE works to enhance the creative and innovative potential of individuals, companies and their environments through entrepreneurial/business development for faster growing companies.
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Yes, the NIIC lease covers utilities — water, electricity, gas, and sewage disposal — so long as clients are not overusing utilities. If a client has demonstrable, independent need of additional utility services beyond those provided by the NIIC, such arrangements will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis, with installation and service charges being the responsibility of the client in most cases.
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The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) is the world's leading organization advancing business incubation and entrepreneurship. Each year, it provides thousands of professionals with information, education, advocacy and networking resources to bring excellence to the process of assisting early-stage companies. A nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1985, NBIA is the world’s oldest and largest incubation industry organization. As an “umbrella” organization, NBIA serves and advocates for all segments of the industry, ranging from high-technology and industrial incubators to special-focus and for-profit incubators.
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Technology companies arrayed across five general categories: biomedical devices, information processing, lean manufacturing, transportation, and advanced materials. NIIC clients are high-potential start-ups and existing companies expanding in new directions. All hold great promise for new jobs creation and area economic expansion.
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Incubation programs come in many shapes and sizes and serve a variety of communities and markets: Most North American business incubators (about 90 percent) are nonprofit organizations focused on economic development. About 10 percent of North American incubators are for-profit entities, usually set up to obtain returns on shareholders’ investments. 47 percent are “mixed-use,” assisting a range of early-stage companies. 37 percent focus on technology businesses. 7 percent serve manufacturing firms. 6 percent focus on service businesses. 3 percent concentrate on community-revitalization projects or serve niche markets.
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No. Business incubators graduate strong and self-sustaining companies into their communities, where these companies build, purchase, or rent space. Because incubated companies are more likely to succeed than nonincubated companies, landlords of incubator graduates face far less risk than they otherwise would. Also, while they’re in the start-up phase, incubator client companies can obtain flexible space and leases that are more appropriate to their stage of growth than they could on the commercial market.
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While such industries may fall outside the NIIC’s mandate for incubation residency, our affiliate programs make entrepreneurial and business venture training, coaching and education available to a wide range of industries on a non-resident basis. Further, the NIIC has a broad network of other business development and support resources to which aspiring companies can be referred. Our knowledge of and close working relationships with business resources and other developmental organizations, as well as our close ties to the region’s educational community, make the NIIC a virtual “one stop shop” for new venture resources, capital access, and business best practices, whatever your industry, interests, or stage of development.
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Government subsidies for well-managed business incubation programs represent strong investments in local and regional economies. Consider these returns: Research has shown that, for every $1 of estimated public investment provided the incubator, clients and graduates of NBIA member incubators generate approximately $30 in local tax revenue alone. NBIA members have reported that 84 percent of incubator graduates stay in their communities and continue to provide a return to their investors. Publicly supported incubators create jobs at a cost of about $1,100 each, whereas other publicly supported job creation mechanisms commonly cost more than $10,000 per job created.
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The Center has a professional staff consisting of a President/CEO and program directors including the, Director- CEE, Director-Finance & Administration, Administrative Assistant and Operations Supervisor. Additionally, work-study and intern students from six higher ed institutions support the Innovation Center activities. The Innovation Center has a 36 person board of directors of which 33% are women and ethnic minorities. Board membership is by invitation only after review and recommendation from the Nominating Committee. The Board reflects a broad constituency of: educators, real estate developers; bankers/venture capitalists; lawyers, industry representatives, elected officials, economic development professionals, and entrepreneurs. Terms are an initial three years with a second three-year term at the discretion of the Board Chair.
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Research parks (sometimes called science parks or technology parks) are property-based ventures consisting of research and development facilities for technology- and science-based companies. Research parks often promote community economic development and technology transfer. They tend to be larger-scale projects than business incubators, often spanning many acres or miles. Research parks house everything from corporate, government, and university labs to big and small companies. Unlike business incubators, research parks do not offer comprehensive programs of business assistance. However, an important component of some research parks is a business incubator focused on early-stage companies.
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No. The term “business incubator” gained popularity in the media with the recent explosion and subsequent demise of so-called Internet incubators, but the business incubation model traces its beginnings to the late 1950s.
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First and foremost, the NIIC is dedicated to jobs creation and economic development in the Northeast Indiana region. Other goals include:
· Fostering of technology and knowledge based entrepreneurship
· Development and retention of local and regional talent
· Enhanced availability of, and access to, capital resources for business formation and new venture support
· Expanded educational opportunities and achievement at all levels, from K–12 and higher education to life-long learning through innovative, on-demand channels
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Entrepreneurship education includes instruction in opportunity recognition, marshaling resources in the face of risk, and initiating a business venture. It also includes instruction in the business management processes such as business planning, capital development, marketing, and cash flow analysis.
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Assuming good performance in goal attainment, proper observance of lease conditions, and in the short term (3-5 years), yes, but in the long term, no. The purpose of NIIC incubation is to ready our clients for self-sufficiency and commercial success. All NIIC incubation clients are periodically reviewed on progress toward the goals established upon their acceptance into the program. Our facilities, while generous, are limited and reserved for those companies showing the greatest potential and the greatest progress toward achieving that potential.
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Incubator sponsors – organizations or individuals who support an incubation program financially – may serve as the incubator’s parent or host organization or may simply make financial contributions to the incubator. About 25 percent of North American business incubators are sponsored by academic institutions, 16 percent are sponsored by government entities, 15 percent are sponsored by economic development organizations, 10 percent are sponsored by for-profit entities, and 10 percent are sponsored by other types of organizations. About 5 percent of business incubators are “hybrids” with more than one sponsor, and 19 percent of incubators have no sponsor or host organization.
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Our mission is to help entrepreneurs create successful businesses. We assist businesses in all stages of development in their efforts to become successful. That is why the CEE program and the Innovation Center were created and why we have both resident and affiliate clients. Incubator best practices suggest cost of space should be stepped in parallel with the market. We do everything we can to maintain stable monthly charges to assist our clients with predictable monthly cash flow. The package of business assistance, mentorship, space, and client synergy is the benefit of incubation, not cheap rent. In order to fully serve the nascent idea marketplace, more early stage venture capital needs to be accessible in the Region.
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An incubator should provide business coaching, mentoring, financial assistance and/or capital access, technology tech transfer and commercialization, innovation evaluation, marketing and business plan assistance, and referrals to professional service providers to increase the likelihood of business success. Long-term NBIA “best practice goals” are to meet or beat the following: survivability: 87% of incubator clients are still in business five years after entering the incubator; retention: 84% located within 30 miles of the incubator; and business growth: most enter with 2-3 employees and grow to 10-12 after an average of 3 years 2 months in the incubator.
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Incubator graduates create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and commercialize new technologies, thus strengthening local, regional, and even national economies. NBIA estimates that North American incubator client and graduate companies have created about half a million jobs since 1980. That is enough jobs to employ every person living in Denver. Every 50 jobs created by an incubator client generate approximately 25 more jobs in the same community. In 2001 alone, North American incubators assisted more than 35,000 start-up companies that provided full-time employment for nearly 82,000 workers and generated annual earnings of more than $7 billion. Business incubators reduce the risk of small business failures. Historically, NBIA member incubators have reported that 87 percent of all firms that have graduated from their incubators are still in business.
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A great idea with strong commercialization potential, a drive to attain entrepreneurial excellence, a support group of outside advisors (preferably with successful entrepreneurial experience), a willingness to seek and act on professional advice, a high potential for sustained jobs creation and area economic development, and a technology / knowledge oriented business plan in line with the NIIC’s targeted industry clusters (biomedical devices, information processing, lean manufacturing, transportation, and advanced materials).
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The three business clusters: IT product & service, Biomedical and Advanced Manufacturing were identified through analysis as three high growth potential core competencies in NE Indiana. These clusters were confirmed through extensive market and industry analysis combined with marketing research from Taylor University. If the business falls outside of these areas, and is still a technology related business, aligns positively within the value chain for other resident clients or the incubator and the programs at NIIC can benefit its business success then the business can enter the selection process. NIIC targets: existing small tech businesses in the industry wanting to go to the next level; employees of existing companies interested in establishing their own companies, potential spin-offs; students who want to be entrepreneurs; downsized employees looking to start a new business; professors with technologies that might be commercialized; people with good ideas and the commitment to incubation as a catalyst for growth.
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For an in depth look at our admissions criteria, please review the following document:
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No. Office furnishings are included as part of each lease. Upon applying for and receiving written consent from the NIIC, clients may supply additional or substitute furnishings of their own, but doing so will not result in any lease rate reduction.
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NBIA advances the business creation process to increase entrepreneurial success and individual opportunity, strengthening communities worldwide. To accomplish this mission, NBIA serves as a clearinghouse of information on incubator management and development issues, providing incubation professionals around the world with the tools they need to develop entrepreneurs and their businesses. The association engages in many activities that support members’ professional development, including: Organizing conferences and specialized trainings. Conducting research and compiling statistics on the incubation industry. Producing publications that describe practical approaches to business incubation. Consulting with governments and corporations on incubator development.
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Because NIIC lease arrangements are “packages,” including many shared services, programs and amenities beyond simple office space, the NIIC does not define leases in terms of square footage rates.
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Indiana is fortunate to have a fine community of business incubators of various sizes and focus. The NIIC differentiates itself in several ways:
· We are ISO9001:2000 certified. We not only teach best business practices, we apply them ourselves. To our knowledge, we are the only Indiana business incubator to achieve this certification, and one of only a handful in the entire country.
· While many business incubators are direct programs of specific colleges and universities, the NIIC has affiliations and cooperative relationships with almost every educational facility in Northeast Indiana, including:
- Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW, and one of the NIIC’s founding organizations; the new IU School of Medicine Regional Campus is just west of the NIIC’s own campus)
- Taylor University (whose MBA program is housed in the NIIC)
- Ivy Tech (whose new 167,000 sq. ft. Technology Center is being built adjacent to the NIIC campus)
- Huntington University (whose Venture Works program is a NIIC “node” serving Huntington County)
- Tri-State University (home to another NIIC node, serving Tri-State and Steuben County)
- St. Francis University
- Indiana Institute of Technology (IIT)
- Indiana Business College
- Fort Wayne Community Schools, and many other city and county school districts throughout the region.
The exceptional quality and depth of our training and coaching programs. For example, in the annual Purdue University Business Plan Competition, NIIC clients have swept the top 3 prizes for the past three years running! Great businesses start with a great business plan, and the NIIC has demonstrated a proven ability to help new ventures develop a winner. (Also consider that the business best-seller, How To Create A Winning Business Plan, was co-authored by Karl LaPan, the NIIC’s CEO, and Steve Franks, the Director of the NIIC Gateways program.)
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To lay the groundwork for a successful incubation program, incubator developers must first invest time and money in a feasibility study. An effective feasibility study will help determine whether the proposed project has a solid market, a sound financial base and strong community support – all critical factors in an incubator’s success. Once established, model business incubation programs commit to industry best practices such as structuring for financial sustainability, recruiting and appropriately compensating management with company-growing skills, building an effective board of directors, and prioritizing management time to place the greatest emphasis on client assistance.
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CEE funders determined that the CEE would serve any business requiring business assistance. While only technology businesses may gain admittance in the incubator, other non-technology entrepreneurs can benefit from the services and structure offered by the CEE. The CEE is part of a collaborative group of service providers in the Region who meet periodically to address issues of redundancies, overlap, and joint collaboration opportunities.
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People sometimes use the term “business accelerator” as another term for “business incubator” in an attempt to differentiate themselves in the market. During the recent dot-com boom, numerous terms like “accelerator” emerged to describe business incubation programs. In the current market, many of these terms have fallen away, but “accelerator” remains a relatively popular term to describe business incubation programs.
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Yes, although the Innovation Center is unique as a Certified Technology Park in our immediate tri-state vicinity. For a general listing of business incubators in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan (and throughout the country), visit the National Business Incubation Association Web site at www.nbia.org.
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The NIIC receives capital and operational funding from a variety of sources, including government grants, foundation grants, contributions by corporations and individuals, fund-raising events, and fees for services. (Since fees for services are purposely kept low to benefit our residents and associate members, the vast majority of funding comes from public support.)
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In general, leases may be terminated by either party upon adequate written notice as detailed in the lease agreement. The NIIC may terminate lease agreements due to non-compliance with lease terms, or by virtue of the client’s “graduation” from the NIIC; such conditions may include any of the following:
Non-Compliance Conditions:
· Non-payment of rent and/or service fees
· Violation of lease or services agreement
· Inability to participate in Innovation Center programming
· Inability to grow or meet growth objectives
· No longer meets the general or specific guidelines
· Harassment or discrimination in any form.
Graduation Conditions
· Business completes 5 years in Innovation Center Program (subject to exception on a per client basis)
· Client has employed twenty-five or more employees to work at the Premises
· Space requirements of the business exceed incubator capacity
· Client makes a public offering of its stock
Client no longer uses or has a need for the services of the Innovation Center
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No. today, we do not require any equity in the companies entering incubation . However, NIIC reserves the right to negotiate equity/royalties based on the value of its in-kind services or cash infused into the business. Due to insufficient early stage capital for tech companies; however, today, the Innovation Center has no such cash resources to invest.
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NBIA serves more than 1,450 members from 50 nations. While incubator managers and developers make up a large share of NBIA’s membership base, the Association also represents other interested individuals and groups, including economic development professionals, private investors, venture capitalists, researchers, educators, public policy makers and business service providers. Approximately 25 percent of the NBIA membership is from outside the United States.
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