HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.a. Business Incubator Discussion ROSEMOUI\rr E X E C U T 1 V E SUMMARY
PORT AUTHORITY
Port Authority Date: January 2, 2013
AGENDA ITEM: Business Incubator Discussion AGENDA SECTION:
Old Business
PREPARED BY: NO. 4.
Y. Kim Lindquist, Deputy Director AGENDA NO 4.a.
a
ATTACHMENTS: None. APPROVED BY:
Pk)
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Discussion only.
BACKGROUND
The Port Authority has requested a small working group explore provision of a business incubator
in Rosemount. To gather more information, a group met with various members of the Partners in
Higher Education.
DISCUSSION
On Thursday, December 20th, several City representatives visited the Partners in Higher Education
facility located in Apple Valley. The facility has offices for Dakota County Technical College, Inver
Hills Community College, and St Mary's University of MN. http /www.higher- ed- partners.com
They have several programs that are run out of the building, but the one most pertinent to the
discussion on business incubators is the Business Entrepreneur Certificate program. We met with
Lisa Bah, Bob Voss, and Christine Pigsley who are involved in the Business programs. The meeting
was facilitated by Dr. Ron Thomas and Gayle Larson.
The meeting was very productive. They explained that they also serve as a Small Biz Development
Center (SBDC) and therefore field numerous inquiries from people who are, or thinking of, starting
a small business. It was estimated that they fielded approximately 340 calls in 2012. They indicated
their service area is large and they estimated they serve most small businesses south of the River.
The questions they receive are varied and can be anything from "I have a hobby and want to start a
business" to "I need help with getting a bank loan They indicated that during the recession there
were more people investigating starting their own business.
As part of the conversation, it was indicated that the DCTC group is looking to make better
connections to capital for new businesses. They stated that many people are looking for funding and
may not qualify through traditional banks. They would be willing to partner with the City to assist
new businesses and could be an additional resource. They also mentioned the MCCD program the
City is participating in starting in 2013, and indicated they are also a good resource for small
businesses.
It was suggested that the City might want to explore a niche market for business entrepreneurship.
One suggestion was focusing on home based businesses. It was suggested that the City could offer
services for those businesses. The benefit of encouraging home -based businesses is that they will
stay in town, they provide day time traffic for other goods and services in the community, and they
may have growth potential to spur on additional employment. The home -based business suggestion
came about because of their view about a traditional business incubator. Staff from DCTC had
attempted to provide an incubator of sorts; a small business could get their mail, have access to
technology and conference space, and have a networking opportunity at the Partners building. It was
indicated that this strategy wasn't successful. The building was not large enough to have people
permanently housed there. The businesses would come by infrequently and it didn't provide the
synergy desired for the incubator model. It was questioned, with today's technology if a newer
model to assist entrepreneurs might be more successful than the "bricks and mortar" business
incubator model.
RECOMMENDATION
Further discussion should occur regarding differing options associated with a Business Incubator
concept. There are several communities embarking on a bricks and mortar program. One suggestion
would be to reassess that strategy in another 6 to 9 months, after the new incubators in Prior Lake
and Cottage Grove have been operational for some time. In the meantime, promoting MCCD is a
good first step to helping local entrepreneurs and small local businesses. Additional investigation
into partnering with DCTC in additional business assistance should also occur.
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