December 23, 2013 at 12:46 p.m.
County needs business incubator, officials say
County needs business incubator, officials say
But in Oneida County, incubators have yet to hatch - and some officials are trying to change that.
Supervisor Bob Martini told the Oneida County Board last week that the county should explore ways to launch a business incubator in the county. He pointed to Vilas County, which has three incubators.
"I think it's really important for the county board to consider options that we might select to support, establish and sustain a business incubator - at least one - in Oneida County," Martini said.
Ditto, said Roger Luce, the executive director of the Oneida County Economic Development Corporation, who has worked with business incubators for 31 years.
"I am a believer, absolutely, in incubators," Luce said in an interview. "Have we gotten by without one? Yes. The other side of that is: If we did have a business incubator, how many more businesses would have started here?"
Incubators, Luce said, can nurture small businesses so they become financially viable and independent. To do that, incubators typically offer subsidized workspaces for a limited period of time, and a one-stop shop for logistical and administrative services, such as an office secretary.
Incubators also have a predominately local focus. Luce said that 84 percent of all businesses that start in an incubator stay in the community and help create jobs.
But the key benefit of an incubator, Luce said, is the mutual support from entrepreneurs who are similarly situated.
"Face-to-face networking with your peers is something that is almost priceless," Luce said. "That's also something that an incubator brings to an entrepreneur just starting out is your ability to have a conversation with someone - someone who is going through the same thing. They're more readily going to have a discussion."
Indeed, Luce said, "The real thing is the network that you develop and what you come away from with that network. That's the true value."
Incubators vary widely in structure, Luce said. Sometimes they're oriented to particular business models, such as research and engineering. Other incubators focus on particular industries, such as food.
"The biggest trend in the state of Wisconsin is to have kitchen incubators," Luce said.
Kitchen incubators offer cooking areas that comply with regulations governing how and where food for sale can be produced.
(For instance, Luce said, the barbecue sauce Sweet Baby Ray's got its start in an incubator.)
Where the county fits
The county's precise role in establishing an incubator has not yet been defined, but it could take several forms. Luce said the county could help fund an incubator, which is similar to how Vilas County operates.
There are three incubators in Vilas County: two in Eagle River and one in Manitowish Waters.
According to Bob Egan, the executive director of the Vilas County Economic Development Corporation, Vilas County has been contributing $100,000 for the past four years toward the incubators there; the corporation then administers those funds.
Egan said community leaders and area businesses have also donated to the incubator program.
There is little state and federal funding available to start incubators, according to Luce, but he is working to change that. Along with three other heads of county economic development corporations, Luce wrote to state legislators in November asking that the state restore funding for a program that used to provide financial assistance to business incubators. That program was cut in 2007.
In Vilas County, businesses leasing space in the incubators must also pay rent, with the amount of rent due increasing toward the latter end of the lease period.
Egan said the Vilas County incubator program partners with Nicolet College to run a 12-week class on business development. At the end of that class, Egan said, students will have a viable business plan - which he said is critical to securing financing.
"I think we provide a great opportunity for people who have got a great idea but they don't know where to go from there," Egan said. "We help them try to create a viable business."
Oneida County could also provide office space, Martini said.
"We should at least investigate what the county board could do to try to establish, foster and sustain a business incubator in the county - possibly using our own buildings or providing assistance in some way," Martini said.
Luce, of the Oneida County Economic Development Corporation, said his board of directors will look at the prospect of establishing a business incubator. But what happens from there is up to the board, Luce said.
Jonathan Anderson can be reached at [email protected]
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