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Innovators in the Field There is much to learn from the diversity of experience in incubator development around the country, in small and large towns alike. Here are a few success stories from rural and small towns that have turned incubators into an "appropriate technology" for their local economies, creating jobs, businesses and opportunity. Monmouth, Illinois Monmouth, Illinois is a town of 10,000 in Western Illinois, currently renovating an 84,000 square foot incubator (former hard- ware store). The project, begun with tech- nical assistance from Control Data Corporation, expects to house between 25-30 businesses, including service busi- nesses, assembly and light manufacturing. Bill Maloney, the Control Data representa- rive on the project, admits he had to sell the idea. "Economic development to a small town means getting the big hit -- a monster development comes in or the price of corn goes up. When they think of small business, they think of retail." But he sees more small towns jumping on the entrepreneurial bandwagon. In this case, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, developing a proac- tire incubator program, challenged Control Data to work with three small Illinois towns, between 10,000 and 45,000, to develop in- cubators. According to Maloney, you have to have state support for such an endeavor, but the most important thing is community support. Maloney came in as an outsider and had to establish credibility with every important person in the town, particularly the Mayor, who has been instrumental in the project's success. "Eventually they take you in;' he says. Once the leadership has accepted the idea, you begin an education and motivation process, to get the community excited and involved. Kay Titchenal, manager of the Monmouth project, says it is a typical town in many .ways but that it worked in Monmouth be- cause, "We were forward looking -- not the blase, 'tomorrow will take care of itself' kind of people." She also mentions the excite- ment of government leaders and the busi- ness community and says in some ways it may be more positive in a rural area be- cause you have the attention and support you need. In a stroke of fundraising genius, the "Join Our Business Search" (JOBS) was organized to recruit door to door pledges of support for the incubator proj- ect. Run much like a United Way campaign, the community pledged $210,000. Accord- ing to Titchenal, "Everyone has an interest in the facility." What are the project goals? "We feel the economic pressures that everyone feels? says Titchenal. "We're interested in new jobs, but we won't give an unfair advantage to anyone competing with a business in town." They also will not offer below market space because, "You'd put every other landlord out of business." According to both Titchenal and Maloney, you have to look for some combination of local entrepreneurs and people from the outside who may want to start to relocate a business. Maloney recommends looking at businesses that can serve more than just the local market, bringing new wealth into the community. Among the tenants already identified are an agribusiness, with a new- fangled covering for bales of hay (which just got its first order from Florida); an elec- tronics business which would have left town; one "fella" who has had it with Chi- cago living, and an inventor with a patent on a new product. Maloney says you need to find businesses that can start anywhere, like a mail order catalogue business. "There are an amazing number of entrepreneurs that emerge from the community;' says Maloney. Others you have to recruit by turning negatives into positives. You talk about the quality of life, the cost advantages, housing, schools, and the crime rate. Titchenal envisions an incubator that dou- bles as a kind of community center, where groups and individuals can feel part of the project they have pledged to support. Bennington, Vermont John Williamson speaks softly and surely about developing small business in- cubators. He already has one project, in Bennington, Vermont, under his belt, and has moved on to Springfield, Mas- sachusetts, as President o1' the Springfield Economic Development Corporation, to recreate the magic. Bennington, Vermont is a rural community of about 16,000 that filled a 240,000 square foot incubator. As the Director of the Eco- nomic Development Corporation there, John Williamson was, among other things, manager of the facility. He did everything from recruit tenants, make sure the oil was ordered, keep the boilers in repair, the ele- vators in service, supervise the mainte- nance staff and develop the operating budget, to pay off the loan. What does Williamson think of incubator development in a smaller-sized commun¢:~ "11 might be easier to do a rural incubator because there's less competition for spa~ There aren't going to be alot of multi-tena".,t buildings. But it should be near a large met- ropolitan area. If you don't have an airport nearby, etc., it will be really tough. So mar~j small towns operate in a vacuum. But an- other advantage is that Vermont is a smal: area with a small amount of government. You can cut through the red tape pretty easily:' Is there a market in a rural area? "We didn't have any trouble. You have to attract some tenants from outside the community, just like attracting an industry to build its own plant. Bennington is 30 minutes from the second best engineering school in the U.S. -- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which has a well known incubator where you have to apply for admission to get in. Within ten years companies will move to Bennington as spin-offs from RPI -- people who want to be close to RPI, but not in New York. You look for people who want to be in a rural setting, where they can take their kids and spouse and have a nice quality of life and go skiing:' Some argue that a small town doesn't al- ways have the sophisticated economic de- velopment structure needed for incubator development? Williamson agrees. "You've got to have it. You can't just have an in- cubator. You have to know where those people will go when they outgrow the in- cubator. Bennington had three graduates that all stayed in the community, in pre- viously vacant manufacturing buildings-- buildings that had been empty for up to four years:' According to Williamson, when you run out of space you build a "spec" building. "In the incubator you've got a captive audience that looks to you for advice as to where they should go. You can steer them right into another building."