Congressman Weldon Develops and Expands NASA Incubation In Florida And New York With $2.85 Million

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representative and Vice Chair of the House Space Science Committee, Dave Weldon (R – Palm Bay) announced a $2.85 million provision included in the NASA appropriations bill recently signed by President Bush. The provision will help develop and expand the NASA business incubation programs in Florida and New York.    

Weldon worked in partnership with New York Congressman John T. Walsh, South Florida Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek and Florida’s Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA) to secure the funding to establish incubators in Syracuse, New York and Homestead, Florida and expand the initiatives at the existing Florida/NASA Business Incubation located in Titusville, Florida. Florida’s TRDA sponsors programs that enhance education and economic development within the state.

“Our district has already benefited from the growth of small business and economic develop stimulus fostered by business incubation,” says Weldon.  “I am excited to see the NASA business incubation program grow and proud to say I aided in further development and expansion of technology business incubators in Florida.”

NASA incubator development was initiated to support the agency’s technology transfer and commercialization goal of promoting commercially viable uses of publicly developed technology. Like other similar economic development initiatives, NASA incubators have been encouraged by a strong push at the national, state and local level.

A recent study by the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) shows that Incubators increase the success rate of small businesses to 80-percent, compared to Small Business Administration estimates of 20-percent success rates for non-incubated businesses. The NBIA also estimates that for every dollar invested in an incubator returns nearly five dollars to the local economy. Like tax incentives for big business relocation, NASA's incubator infrastructure provides the foundation for the growth of small business that commercialize agency technologies vital to the nation's economy. Business incubators have been proven to increase the chance of a start-up’s success by helping fill enterprise development needs and immersing the entrepreneurs in a “business formation” environment.

“On behalf of Florida’s small business, we commend the efforts of Congressman Weldon to grow an initiative, which has such a profoundly positive impact on economic development,” says Frank Kinney, TRDA executive director. “We are eager to leverage the established success of NASA incubation in Titusville, Florida and bring opportunities to entrepreneurs and start-companies in South Florida.”