Sunday, April 11, 2004
Here's another type of strategy that is gaining steam: industry-specific incubators. You can see a good example in Beaverton, OR. The City Council has agreed to invest $1. million over three years to get a software incubator off the ground.
The incubator will be 15,000 to 20,000 square feet in downtown Beaverton. It will house 15-25 start-up businesses. The incubator will focus on companies in five areas: open source development, electronic design automation, financial services, health care applications and educational software. Each category has a group of promising companies in Beaverton.
According to the business plan for the incubator, the start-up companies will likely have one to four employees, they will spend 18-24 months in the incubator getting assistance and guidance, and they will graduate with 20-25 employees
The incubator will require a subsidy to start: $450,000 for the first year and $350,000 for the second and third years.
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Beaverton launches a software incubator
