7. EDSR 06-12-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Hatching Good Ideas? Characteristics of Minnesota's Business Incubators Survey Of Minnesota's Business Incubators Incubators In Minnesota It is possible to draw some reasonable Introduction The Analysis and Evaluation Office of the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development (DYED) conducted a telephone survey of the state's business incubators in October-November 2000. The results of the survey are summarized in this section. This survey was an attempt to develop a description of the state of business incubators in Minnesota. A list of business incubators in Minnesota was generated from a variety of sources, including a bulk e-mail to all members of the Economic Development Association of Minnesota (EDAM), DYED Publications, the NBIA, local media sources and other referrals. These business incubators were contacted by telephone. All incubators contacted responded to a standard survey questionnaire. In order to generate as complete a list as possible, incubator representatives were asked for other incubators of which they were aware. Some organizations contacted offered primarily space for business activities. These organizations, which fulfill a useful role in Minnesota's economy, cannot be considered incubators according to the definition included in this brief. As a result of the survey, information was obtained from 28 business incubators. As mentioned previously, there is no prototypical incubator. Some incubators may excel at product placement and marketing, while others may excel in financial management. Still others may have connections that aze beneficial in securing financing. This is clearly the case in Minnesota as well. Different incubators have well developed expertise in some areas, while they are continuing to develop expertise in other areas. generalizations about the surveyed incubators. These conclusions are developed in the following section. Overall, the most important characteristic of Minnesota business incubators surveyed is whether the incubator is non-profit or far-profit. • Organizational Structure Minnesota incubators are split evenly by type of organization. There are 14 incubators each (50 percent of the total) that are non-profit and for-profit. This proportion of for-profit incubators is higher than the proportion nationally. Year ojEstablishment The average Minnesota incubator was established in 1994. However, half of the incubators in the state were started in 1997 or later. There is also no difference between non- profit and for-profit incubators surveyed. For both non-profit and for-profit incubators, 7 of 14 incubators were established in 1997 or later. Business incubators in Minnesota, like nationally, aze likely to be recently established. • Size The business incubators surveyed had a median of 7 companies in the incubator. The median incubator had created 1 business that had "graduated" from the incubator. The median incubator also had 1 business that had gone out of business. There is, however, a difference between non- profit incubators and for-profit incubators in terms of average firms served. The median non-profit incubator surveyed had 7.5 companies in residence. It had seen 2 companies graduate, while 1 company had gone out of business. For-profit incubators, on the other hand, had a median of 5 companies in residence. A median of 1 company had graduated, while 0.5 had gone out of business. Overall, the median for-profit incubator had fewer companies in residence, also with fewer graduate companies and fewer companies that went out of business, than non-profit incubators. Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development