A wet laboratory incubator is a highly specialized economic development tool designed to accelerate the growth and success of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services. Business incubation catalyzes the process of starting and growing companies providing entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools they need to make their ventures successful. Incubation programs diversify economies, commercialize technologies, create jobs and build wealth.

An incubator's main goal is to produce successful firms that graduate from the program as financially viable and freestanding businesses. These incubator "graduates" create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, commercialize critical new technologies and strengthen local and national economies.

Critical to the general definition of an incubator is on-site management, which develops and orchestrates business, marketing and management resources tailored to a company’s needs. Incubators usually also provide clients access to appropriate rental space and flexible leases, shared basic office services and equipment, technology support services, and assistance in obtaining the financing necessary for company growth.

Products and Services

Tenants of a regional wet laboratory incubator require a full range of business development and support services. Those directly provided include:

• Access to Technology Assessment Resources
• Grant Writing Support (e.g., SBIR/STTR)
• Identification and Introduction to Funding Sources
• Strategic Planning
• Market Research
• Marketing and Public Relations Support
• Identification and Introduction to Potential Mentors/Advisors
• Networking Opportunities
• Access to Public Assistance Programs

Tenants also have access to business development services provided by other regional technology transfer and commercialization organizations. These include:

• Access to Technology Assessment Resources
• Grant Writing Support (e.g., SBIR/STTR)
• Identification and Introduction to Funding Sources
• Strategic Planning
• Market Research
• Marketing and Public Relations Support
• Identification and Introduction to Potential Mentors/Advisors
• Networking Opportunities
• Access to Public Assistance Programs

Regional Incubators

Biotechnology Development Center of Greater Kansas City facility is a community-based wet laboratory incubator providing high-growth potential companies with resources needed for development and commercialization of biotechnology products and services. The incubator features 6,000 square feet of combined office and laboratory space, with telecommunications support, office services, and shared lab services. With close proximity to the academic community at the Kansas University Medical Center and access to business service, the facility provides the scientific entrepreneur with an environment bridging the gap between bench science and product commercialization.

The Enterprise Center of Johnson County is a business incubator - an entity that provides high-growth potential companies with office space, consulting and advisory services and financing resources – to help them grow and succeed. The Enterprise Center is located in metropolitan Kansas City in Lenexa, Kansas and is an integral part of entrepreneurial economic development in Johnson County.

The Kansas City Biotechnology Center is a 3,700-square-foot micro-incubator established by the Economic Development Corporation. The incubator is designed to house early-stage, rapidly growing companies developing pharmaceuticals, medical devices and research and diagnostic equipment. The center, located just west of the Country Club Plaza, contains office space and fully equipped wet laboratories capable of carrying out the advanced research and development activities common for companies in the biotech sector. The first tenant is Proteon Therapeutics, which is developing a blood vessel-dilating drug for hemodialysis patients.

Kansas Entrepreneurial Center (KEC) – Manhattan, KS -- This new 20,000-square-foot facility provides facilities and administrative support for technology-based start-up companies in Manhattan. The KEC is a controlled affiliate of Mid-America Commercialization Corporation (MACC), with sponsorship by the City of Manhattan, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, Riley County, Pottawatomie County, K-State, and the KSU Foundation (KSURF). The offices of KSURF and MACC are located within the KEC at 1500 Hayes Drive, Manhattan, KS 66502–5068. In optimal situations, start-up ventures will mature and “graduate” from the KEC into larger facilities locally, in some cases to space in the K-State Research Park.

Mid-Missouri Technology Business Incubator at University of Missouri – Columbia, MO -- A proposed 33,000-square-foot facility slated for a 2.5-acre site off Providence Road near the MU Research Reactor. The project has raised $6.2 million. A $1.5 million campaign is under way in communities of the region. Federal grants and a commitment by the University of Missouri Office of Research make up $5.6 million of the $6.2 million raised to date.

Missouri Western State University (MWSU) with the strong encouragement and support of Senator Kit Bond and funding from U. S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) will start construction of a Science and Technology Incubator on its St Joseph campus in the Spring of 2007. The process of evaluating potential occupants has already started and the first clients will move in the following year. The 25,000 sq ft facility can accommodate up to 15 knowledge based firms needing laboratory and office space in 1,000 sq ft increments as well as provide access to basic business services including telecommunications, meeting rooms, copying, shipping and mail services. The St Joseph Institute for Industrial and Applied Life Sciences can provide incubator clients access to specialized equipment and facilities and to contacts in the many major international animal life sciences firms operating in the region while the University can provide access to research scientists, business consultants and technical support. The incubator will accept clients with substantial scientific and technical assets and strong business plans in the early stages of their development. Over a 2 - 3 year period access to incubator resources will assist clients in developing business operations that can be accommodated in accelerator spaces in and around St. Joseph including vacant office, warehouse and factory space in the city's industrial and downtown areas. Missouri Western is a six-year public institution with a legislatively mandated statewide mission in applied learning and a vision of becoming a model of the new American Regional University, outwardly focused on regional economic and workforce development and dedicated to applied learning, applied research and service. The City of St Joseph is within 35 minutes of Kansas City International Airport at the intersection of major North/South and East/West traffic corridors with excellent schools, an educated workforce and a high quality yet affordable lifestyle.

Plans for a Kansas City Regional flagship Incubator

The Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute received a planning grant from the US Economic Development Administration to assess the feasibility, site selection, and optimal characteristics of a wet laboratory incubator to support biotechnology company incubation and recruitment. The project seeks to answer the following questions, which describe the major scope of work elements:

• Is there an economic advantage for selectively locating the facility in Kansas or Missouri?

• Given the current market conditions, what is the optimal size of an incubator? Should more than one facility be considered?

• What type of management model fits the circumstances and partners in the region?

• Are there differential economic incentives for locating in an urban versus suburban area? Identify several potential candidate sites.

• What type of client services should be made available and who are potential providers of such services in the region?

• What type of graduation space is available in the region and what is it’s proximity to candidate incubator sites?

• Are there additional technology transfer partners well suited to participate in the effort?

• Are there other examples of a “regional” board of directors to oversee incubator operations? Are there other governance structures that should be considered?

• What are the incubator design and construction assets in the area?

• What metrics are available to delineate the appropriate length of time for incubation of bioscience companies?

• What equipment resources should be made available to client companies?

A request for proposals was released to solicit competitive bids for prospective service providers that could define an evaluation process that includes interviews of academic and private sector technology transfer professionals, discussions with existing biotechnology start-up companies and those that have relocated to other states, evaluation of potential service providers, and interviews with directors of several wet laboratory incubators across the nation for best practices and lessons learned. Specific project deliverables include a well-written analysis, supported by data from a variety of sources, indicating the optimal design, location, and characteristics for a regional wet laboratory incubator. The resultant report forms the foundation underpinning efforts by the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute to gather political and financial support for the project from the academic, business, and civic communities. Moreover, success in establishing the facility creates a nurturing environment for innovation and entrepreneurship, fostered through providing client services supporting such activities.

Incubator Report

The Economic Development Administration of the US Department of Commerce awarded a planning grant to KCALSI to assess the feasibility, site selection, and optimal characteristics of a wet laboratory incubator to support biotechnology company incubation and recruitment. The Angle Technology Group (Charlottesville, VA) was selected via a competitive bid process to perform the work. The resultant report forms the foundation underpinning efforts by the KCALSI to gather political and financial support for the project from the academic, business, and civic communities.  Click here to view the report.