Hatching businesses takes patience – U of I incubator invites applications

There have been a few lessons learned at the TECenter business incubator one year after the Nampa facility opened.

No. 1: "Business is a lot easier to talk about than to accomplish," said TECenter Director John Glerum, with a chuckle.

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041014/NEWS0202/410140364/1029/NEWS02

"That one comes home every day."

The incubator http://www.bsutecenter.com , part of Boise State University’s West Valley Campus near the Idaho Center, now has 17 resident business clients ranging from a biotechnology firm to an online shopping mall.

The TECenter, formally known as the Technology and Entrepreneurial Center, helps small and emerging technology businesses by providing everything from shared space and office equipment to advice and consulting services.

The center can hold more than 30 clients, and the goal is for it to be full by the end of its third year, said Glerum.

"We’re 80 percent self-sufficient now," Glerum said, explaining that leasing fees from clients are supplemented by BSU, the Small Business Development Center and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

As the center grows and more revenue comes in, any funding beyond what is needed for expenses will go back into equipment and client services, said Glerum.

Brian Ernesto, president of Neoreef Internet Software company, has been at the TECenter since it opened last summer and has seen his company grow.

"The people are the real resources here," said Ernesto. "John (Glerum) gets us in front of the right people."

The networking factor of the TECenter is mentioned frequently by its resident entrepreneurs, who often become each other’s clients in the process.

Neoreef, for instance, developed the Web site for Blueline, a sales and marketing firm that resides at the center to offer services to the small businesses there.

Blueline, also a start-up venture that began last spring and located in the TECenter in July, does sales and marketing for Neoreef.

"We all help each other because we want to see everyone succeed," said Ernesto. "We’re all entrepreneurs here."

Brian Packer, one of four partners of Blueline, said there are intangible benefits to being in the Nampa center.

"There’s a synergy and a camaraderie here that you don’t find in a regular office building," said Packer.

Emerging businesses that locate at the incubator are required to go through an assessment process that prompts the entrepreneur to look at everything from his marketing plan to product competition to funding needs.

Glerum said the process helps entrepreneurs make sure they’re considering all aspects of what it takes to launch and grow their business.

The TECenter has talked to 180 potential clients over the past year, with about 40 saying "the assessment process is not for me," said Glerum.

TECenter staff selects the businesses that can locate there, choosing ones with the most potential to succeed by the process.

Here are three of the lessons learned over the past year by Glerum and Rick Ritter, director of technology outreach at the center.

• Clients are best served by locating in the TECenter. At first, the incubator was anticipating having resident and non-resident clients. But Glerum and Ritter discovered that nurturing new businesses takes a hands-on approach, requiring daily, face-to-face interaction. The center no longer works with clients who do not locate there.

• Most young companies are lacking — and need — marketing and sales assistance.

That’s why the TECenter brought in Blueline, a new company that does sales and marketing outsourcing for small firms.

• It’s a bad idea to pre-judge whether a company’s product is a good idea. "There are lots of great ideas, and we try not to judge whether they’ll become great businesses," said Ritter.

"The process we use defines whether there’s a good business there."

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TECenter in Nampa marks a year of lessons learned

The Boise State University TECenter in Nampa helps emerging businesses grow faster. From left is John Glerum, TECenter director; Guy Walker, owner of Construction Concepts; Brian Ernesto, owner of Neoreef; and John Hardesty, Brian Critchfield, Justin Foster and Brian Packer, owners of Blueline.
If you go

TECenter Director John Glerum today will share some of the lessons learned during the Nampa incubator’s first year.
Glerum will talk about the TECenter at Kickstand, an entrepreneurs’ organization, which holds its monthly meeting from 5:30-7 p.m. today in the Empire Building, 10th and Idaho streets, in Boise.
To RSVP for the free event, go online to http://www.kickstand.org.

Related Links

* Idaho BSU TECenter http://www.bsutecenter.com

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U of I incubator invites applications

Statesman staff
Edition Date: 10-14-2004

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041014/NEWS02/410140365/1029/NEWS02

The University of Idaho Business & Technology Incubator, at 1904 E. Chicago in Caldwell, is accepting applications for its business incubation program for light manufacturing and service firms.

Startups, home-based operations experiencing rapid growth and established businesses with new owners are encouraged to apply. The center offers workspace and access to business support services.

For information, call Jim Toomey at 455-9650 or [email protected]