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By Clint Williams
From Chandler in the southeast to Surprise in the northwest, communities across the greater Phoenix metropolitan area are creating partnerships to turn good ideas into good-paying jobs. in 2009, the Valley saw the creation of at least four business accelerators – often also referred to as business incubators – designed to nurture job creation by providing cheap office space and expertise to start-up entrepreneurial enterprises. While business incubators are nothing new, the recent pace of establishing such setups in the Phoenix area is noteworthy, says Linda Knopp of the Ohio-based National Business Incubation Association. “Four is a fairly high number to be established in that amount of time,” says Knopp. Similar metro areas typically don’t have as many incubator projects opening at the pace that Phoenix currently operating, suggesting that area developers are being fairly aggressive. In Chandler and Surprise, city officials are hoping to turn old buildings into new jobs. The AZ TechCelerator in Surprise is housed in the former City Hall complex. A renovated Intel building in Chandler will be the home of Innovations, a biotechnology business incubator, when work is done in April 2010. Two other recently announced business accelerators – the Impact Accelerator announced in August by Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute (www.biodesign.asu.edu) and a partnership between the city of Mesa, ASU Polytechnic and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council – are in earlier development stages. Slightly more than half of the 1,115 business incubators and business accelerators are what Knopp calls “mixed use”, open to a wide range of early-stage companies. The newly created Arizona business accelerators, however, are focused on technology start-ups. “We envision the accelerator complementing the established industries like aerospace and high tech manufacturing while expanding the emerging sectors of renewable energy, biosciences, and information communication technology in Mesa,” said William Jabjiniak, director of economic development for the city of Mesa. Business accelerators provide more than cheap rent – although that is certainly a help to a new company trying to stretch a buck. Some start-ups may need help with marketing, others may need help securing financing and providing such expertise is typically part of any such program, says Knopp. A big benefit is the opportunity to hang out with business people in a similar situation – what some people call networking. Eduardo Tinoco, chief executive officer of Athena Wireless Communications says the other tenant at the AZ TechCelerator in Surprise introduced him to a potential investor. While funding a business accelerator is a gamble, it’s no desperate long shot. Business accelerators and business incubators are a proven tactic. Tinoco worked at two companies that started at a business incubator, the first in San Jose, California. “I was employee number 70 and the company grew to 2,000 employees,” Tinoco says. That may not happen in Surprise, but Jonathan Janas, head of W8ter.com, the other AZ TechCelerator tenant, says he plans to start hiring customer service representatives and sales staff in the first quarter of 2010. It’s a start. |
