Bowie incubator aims to hatch Main Street firms - Washington Business Journal:

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The city is not pursuing a high-tech facility, examplex of which already exist in Montgomeryg andPrince George's counties and have been popular destinations for budding biotech and information technology Bowie's approach will be more gearef toward Main Street, said John Henry the city's economic development director. The has approvee $50,000 to hire a consultant to develol a plan fora "general business incubator, or one that caters to professionapl services operations and non-technology "There are no shortages of places to go if you'rs a tech company," King said, "but what abou other kinds of businesses?
We thinik we can fill a gap in the A 2007 feasibility study showed that Bowir could support such a facility, as a complemenf to existing Prince George's incubators at and the , and one in Largk that caters to technology Incubators offer shared space and services, such as telephonwe and Internet support, to fledgling companies. Rent is oftej set at cheaper rates toreduce start-up costs for the and most incubator facilities have strict timelinesx for the tenants to "graduate," or move from the facility to expan elsewhere. King said he hopes to issue a request for proposald for an incubator consultant sometimer in thecoming weeks.
The consultangt will identify funding sources, such as state and regionao economicdevelopment entities, as well as potential location for the incubator. Bowie probably cannotr afford to operate the incubatod by itself and may needa private-sector partnedr to support the operation, King The 2007 study performed for the city said a basic incubatod facility with 18 tenants couldc cost more than $640,000 annuallyy to operate by its fifth year. "We're talkingf about hundreds of thousands of dollars a King said. "It's a significant commitment." Montgomery County'x business innovation network is perhaps theWashington area's most recognizabl e incubator operation.
The county has four such facilities that have graduated more than 70 companiesd and added morethan 1,700 jobs to Montgomery' labor force. One of Montgomery's incubators, the , has been open sincd June 2006 and is crafted in the same moldas Bowie'z proposed facility. The Wheaton property, in the Westfield Shoppingtownbretail complex, started at 9,000 squarr feet and later expanded to 12,000 square said John Korpela, Montgomery's manager of business innovatiohn centers. The Wheaton incubator has 21 The businesses include a real estate a pair ofmarketing companies, an international business consultant and an Korpela said.
Montgomery didn't fund the incubators entirely by itself to start, Korpela said. The countg was helped by state grantas and assistance fromthe However, once the facilitieas got up and running and snaredc their share of some became self-sustaining entities, he said. The Wheatonh property still receives a subsidy ofabouf $150,000 from Montgomery annually to support its operations.