News
Montana Business Incubator hatches two new clients
Two new businesses have signed up as client companies with the Montana
Business Incubator in Billings.
by Leanne H. Frost Western Business
Osteo Northwest and Kids Stuff Consignment became the third and fourth
companies, respectively, to take advantage of the services offered by MBI.
MBI project manager Dave Stoltenberg said the MBI is working with Osteo
Northwest in Billings on biomechanics and bio-compatible materials.
Osteo Northwest, affiliated with Stryker-HowMedica Osteonics, supplies
state-of-the-art reconstructive orthopedic devices to surgeons in Billings, eastern
Montana and Wyoming. Replacement prosthetics available from Osteo
Northwest include total hip, total knee, upper extremity, and spinal systems.
"We are expanding our business to provide superior products and trauma
services to orthopedic surgeons in Montana and Wyoming," said Mike Rose,
who founded the company in 1997.
Osteo Northwest joined the incubator in January, partly due to its proximity to
the medical corridor and hospitals.
Stoltenberg said the MBI is helping Kids Stuff Consignment develop marketable
software.
Kids Stuff Consignment was formed in January 1999 to offer Billings and
surrounding area residents a profitable, alternative venue through which to sell
quality, gently used kids clothing and accessories.
"We plan on expanding our business while continuing to provide our clients with
a great consigning and shopping experience, while maintaining high quality and
excellent profits," said Gail Grossman, president and founder of the company.
Kids Stuff Consignment uses a technology-based data tracking and management
system for greater efficiency.
The other two MBI clients are BrainWaves, Inc., a Montana corporation dedicated
to treating children and adults diagnosed with ADD/ADHD through neurofeedback
therapy, and Decision Commerce Group.
Decision Commerce Group is developing e-commerce applications equipped with
decision analysis tools and algorithms for medium to large enterprises.
"The incubator will make it easier for entrepreneurs to transform their concepts
into viable commercial enterprises by helping them overcome obstacles common
to new companies," said MBI program manager Paul Green.
"We try to learn what they (business clients) are doing and what technological
problems they have. Then we try to find matching research or an agenda by a
government agency," said Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg said MBI’s services include: offices and infrastructure, such as
phones, faxes, etc.; an advisory council; access to investment capital; use of an
administrative assistant; access to the MSU-Billings system, including interns,
graduate students and faculty members; and connections to government
research agencies.
Stoltenberg said the importance of helping companies such as the MBI’s clients
succeed can be seen when you consider the four companies employ seven
full-time people and produce in excess of $1 million a year in revenue.
"We’re trying to develop a critical mass of technology companies," he said.
"Technology companies tend to pay employees more and grow at a faster rate."
Incubators in general have been around since 1980, said Stoltenberg. Since then,
research has shown that start-up companies who use incubators have an 87
percent success rate, compared to the national average of 33 percent.
The incubator officially opened March 2001 but didn’t really get going until last
summer when a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Big Sky
Economic Development Authority and Montana State University-Billings. The MBI
is now located on MSU-Billings’ campus. MBI is a non-profit 501c(3) corporation
funded by NASA. MSU TechLink in Bozeman provides technical transfer
services.
Copyright © Western Business, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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