Business Incubators
A business incubator is a facility that houses a number of start-up businesses under one roof and is designed to accelerate the growth and enhance the success of those businesses, particularly in the critical first few years of the business. Incubators typically provide a variety of business support services and resources, often at below-market rates.
Some incubators specialize in a particular industry or field, such as technology, or they may also be more general and offer mixed use facilities. When incubator tenants grow to a point that they are financially stable, or they outgrow their space in the incubator, they often move to a new location in the community. While not all incubator programs are alike, the goal for most of them is to produce financially viable graduates that have the potential to create new jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, commercialize new technologies, and strengthen their local and regional economies.
Incubators are usually sponsored by private companies, non-profit organizations, municipal and government entities, public universities and colleges, venture capitalists, or by partnerships among entities such as these. Typical services offered by business incubators to their tenants include:
- Access to office and/or manufacturing space at reduced or below-market rates
- Access to administrative support services, office equipment, and conference rooms/meeting spaces
- Access to capital
- Access to legal and accounting services
- Access to management consultation geared towards business planning and development
Since space is limited, incubators typically screen potential tenants to be sure that they are choosing businesses with the best possible chance for success and growth. Listed below are a number of different incubator programs located in Kentucky and their areas of specialty, if any:
- Advanced Science and Technology Commercialization Center: Lexington www.econdev.uky.edu/about-astecc.html –High Technology
- Agricultural Technologies Commercialization Center (AgTeCC): Lexington www.econdev.uky.edu/about-astecc.html –Biotechnology
- Ashland Area Innovation Center: Ashland www.ashland.kctcs.edu –Technology
- Ashland Entrepreneur Center: Ashland www.ashland.kctcs.edu –Service
- Center for Economic Development Entrepreneurship & Technology: Richmond– www.cbt.eku.edu/cedet/
- Emerging Ventures Center for Innovation, Owensboro edc.owensboro.com — High Technology
- Community Ventures Corporation Business Incubators: Lexington and Louisville www.cvcky.org –Service Oriented Businesses
- Enterprise Corporation: Louisville — www.enterprisecorp.com
- FB3 Development LLC: Louisville www.fb3-d.com/page1.html –Food and Beverage Industry
- Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation www.khic.org/ Contact: Bob Wilson, 606-864-5175
- Kentucky Technology Inc.: Lexington www.econdev.uky.edu/ky-tech.html – Technology
- Northern Kentucky E-Zone: Covington www.northernkentuckyezone.com/home.aspx – High Technology
- MetaCyte Business Lab: Louisville www.metacyte.biz – Health Sciences
- Morehead State University Regional Enterprise Center: West Liberty www.mcrtc.com – Technology, Service, or Light Industrial
- Safety and Security Incubator: Richmond www.biztechincubator.eku.edu Safety and Security
- South Central Kentucky Small Business Incubator: Bowling Green www.wku.edu – Information Technology