RTI International - News Release - 2.25.2008
Report: Startups Supported by NC State Technology Incubator Boost the Local Knowledge-Based Economy
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. -- Start-up companies supported by the NC State Technology Incubator on the Centennial Campus developed more quickly and enjoyed better business opportunities than if they had located elsewhere, according to a new study by RTI International.
The incubator, a program of the NCSU Industrial Extension Service, provides university-based start-ups and local entrepreneurs with office and laboratory space and shared administrative services on flexible lease terms. The incubator also facilitates access to NCSU labs and researchers.
"The incubator helps small start-up companies bridge the challenging period between a great idea and a sustainable business," said Alan O'Connor, an economist in Technology Economics & Policy at RTI International who led the study. "The study showed how the incubator invigorates the local knowledge-based economy, attracting new business to North Carolina and home-growing higher-paying jobs."
The researchers found that incubator "graduates" contributed $76 million to the gross state product during 2007, and the economic impacts generated by incubator companies created almost 900 jobs and contributed $6.5 million to state and local tax revenue in 2007. Almost all of these start-ups' funding and revenues came from out of state.
The NC State Technology Incubator was established in 1999 on NC State's Centennial Campus as a mechanism through which NC State could support the commercialization of university technology and support the entrepreneurial activities of faculty, staff and students.
"NCSU strongly supports entrepreneurship and commercialization of technologies," said Gene Fornaro, the incubator's director and director of marketing for the Industrial Extension Service. "The incubator currently houses 30 start-up companies working on advanced textile technologies, genetic research, Information systems and advanced medical applications."
Twenty-six start-up companies have successfully completed the program and moved from the Centennial Campus. Most of these companies are still operating in the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina area.
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