INCUBATOR GETS $1 MILLION BOOST
Center's Goal is to Spur Local Business Startups

Oct 25, 2004

BY WAYNE T. PRICE
FLORIDA TODAY

VIERA -Local, state and federal officials on Monday dedicated $1 million for a planned business incubation center at the Melbourne International Airport. The goal is to spur entrepreneurship in Melbourne.

The money comes from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The incubator, to be overseen by the Technological Research and Development Authority, or TRDA, i could house 30 to 35 start-up companies and provide at least 70 and perhaps more than 100 higher-paying jobs.

"Construction of this incubator really is coming along at exactly the right time," said David Sampson, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. "We know that entrepreneurship and innovation are the cornerstones of the American economy."

Business incubators are laboratories that provide spacefor startup businesses to operate at reduced rents. The goal is for a company's technology or product to be successful, which in turn leads to local job growth.

Sampson was joined at a check-passing ceremony at the Brevard County Government Center in Viera by U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon, R-Melbourne; Melbourne Mayor John Buckley and a handful of other local and state lawmakers.

The TRDA, now based in Titusville, is expected to start construction on the $3.8 million project next spring. The incubator will open in June 2006.

The remaining funds for the incubator project, which also will include a new headquarters for the TRDA, are coming from the authority -- $2 million -- and the city of Melbourne -- $250,000.

The TRDA's grant proposal was among "hundreds" the federal Economic Development Administration considered, Sampson said.

The Titusville incubator was launched in 1996. Believing Brevard could use another incubator, authority officials looked at sites for another facility in the central and southern parts of the county.

TRDA officials originally pursued a site on University Boulevard in south Melbourne near Florida Tech, but it was forced to back off when land costs became prohibitively expensive.

Officials then began talks with the Melbourne Airport Authority for a site on airport property. The parties agreed to lease terms earlier this year.

TRDA's Titusville incubator, called the Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center, Brevard Community College, has some jobs paying in the $52,000 range, said Dave Kershaw, deputy director of the TRDA.

Also at Monday's event was Moses Harvin, president and chief executive officer of the Cocoa-based American Services Technology Inc. Harvin's company, which now employs about 80 people, was one of the initial incubator companies at the Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center.

Harvin, whose company provides logistics, maintenance and support services for government contractors and the military, said the incubator was an ideal place to start a business.

"The best thing about that environment is that it provided a place to conduct business," Harvin said. "It's very difficult for small businesses to actually afford a staff, counseling, workshops, and even having a small office, at a reasonable price," Harvin said.

What's a business incubator?
Business incubators are laboratories of sorts that provide startup businesses space to operate at reduced costs, with the hope a company's technology or product will be a success and lead to job growth.