Space:
Incubators: A tale of three cities
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
Business incubators in other areas around the state have been successful at launching companies, most of them in the high-tech or biotech industries. Local attorney and ThinkTEC board member Bobby Pearce noted that the Lowcountry could learn from those models.
“Rather than reinventing the wheel, we can take what they’re doing (in other parts of the state) and work it here,” he said. “One thing I see them doing is bringing together similar type companies.
“It should be a major focus of the Lowcountry to find a place that can be a ‘breeder’ of small businesses, where entrepreneurs can talk with each other and learn from each other. A chance meeting in the hallway or in the lunch room might result in the newbie learning something valuable that the older company has gone through. That interaction is critically important.”
Some of incubator successes from around the state include:
Columbia
In June, EngenuitySC announced funding for the Columbia area’s first wet lab incubator space for fuel cell innovation. Wet lab space is unique in that it consists of a highly specialized hood and ventilation system essential to fuel cell research and other developing companies with similar research needs. The incubator space will be located in the University of South Carolina Future Fuels Building at the new Horizon Center, a public-private partnership situated in the heart of Innovista. The location of the lab space within the center will situate research and incubator facilities directly across the street from the fuel cell companies.
Columbia is also home to the USC Columbia Technology Incubator, which houses both regular and student companies. Since its inception in November 1998, it has provided opportunities for USC faculty, staff and students to commercialize their ideas and has launched several financially viable businesses that helped create hundreds of jobs. The incubator offers office space, labs, service provider networks and software networking.
Greenville
The $15 million BMW Information Technology Research Center being constructed on the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research campus in Greenville will house incubator space along with laboratories where research will be conducted, open office areas with information technology lab space to be shared with partnering companies and secured research areas.
Greenwood
SC Bio, the state’s biotechnology incubator located at the Greenwood Genetics Center, will support commercialization of new technologies that result from the collaborative research. The incubator offers laboratory and office space to start-up companies, with an adjacent biotechnology park under development.
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