The Gateway Innovation Center: exploring key elements of developing a business incubator

Abstract

Purpose -One of the most notable enterprises designed to accelerate the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services is the business incubator. There are many key components to developing a successful business incubator. However, when one or two of these components are missing or inadequate, failure can follow. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key components to developing a successful business incubator as an effective tool for economic development, based on the case study of an unsuccessful effort. Design/methodology/approach -The Gateway Innovation Center case study presents an opportunity to examine some possible pitfalls of developing a business incubator. A scant four months after opening, the organizers of the incubator decided to give up on the project. Exploring the various missteps in the formation of the Gateway Innovation Center provides a better understanding of key issues in developing successful incubators. Findings -The lack of success was attributed to five features: function following form; lack of planning; lack of expertise; lack of due diligence; and market area would not support a technology incubator. Originality/value -Very few business incubator failures are examined. This is one of the first case studies to examine the short life of a highly anticipated business incubator in an area of Southern California that was seeking to foster new businesses and create jobs in a region of relatively high unemployment.

Comparative Analysis of the Level of Satisfaction with the Services Received at the Business Incubators (Hazleton, PA, USA and Gliwice, Poland)

“…Throughout this process, it is essential that all activities within the business are well considered and fit into a sustainable development of the company [31,39,40]. An important element of the incubation process is promoting current and future entrepreneurs' business ideas and translating it into activities throughout the enterprise [41,42]. The incubation process can be divided into three stages: pre-incubation, incubation, and post-incubation.…”

Comparative Analysis of the Impact of the Business Incubator Center on the Economic Sustainable Development of Regions in USA and Poland

“…The business incubator center, CAN-BE, in Hazleton, Pennsylvania was established in 2000. It is located in the Valmont Industrial Park immediately across the street from the Penn State Hazleton Campus [52][53][54]. The objective of CAN-BE is to provide assistance and support for entrepreneurs who are developing new ventures in sustainable economy.…”

Análisis comparativo del cambio organizacional e institucional de dos incubadoras de empresas

“…Dada la importancia de las incubadoras, Anderson y Al-Mubaraki (2012), al igual que Cooper, Hamel y Connaughton (2012), sugieren que ha habido un creciente interés por identificar los distintos factores de éxito; sin embargo, la gran mayoría de estudios se han realizado en el contexto de países desarrollados en los que predominan sectores de alta tecnología; por ende, es notoria la ausencia de trabajos que pongan en evidencia la evolución y el camino transitado por las incubadoras que han surgido en economías que no son intensivas en conocimiento.…”