>newground
Caution, crowded acronyms ahead: “Working closely with the IUSM and the KSOB, ARTI has established the ETC at IUPUI.” Acronyms aside, this alphabet soup is all about nourishing a high-tech economy in Indiana.
To assist central Indiana in its mission to grow new life science and technology businesses, the Advanced Research and Technology Institute at Indiana University (that's ARTI) has established the Indiana University Emerging Technologies Center (ETC) incubator in downtown Indianapolis.
Business incubators are the place where “promising ideas” grow and mature into successful ventures. The success rate is high. Eighty-seven percent of companies hatched from incubators are still in business today.
By all appearances, the time was ripe for starting a business incubator in Indianapolis. The ETC is enjoying remarkable success in its first year. Seventy percent of its space is occupied or promised—a startling statistic when one considers the average capacity for an incubator in its first year is 25 percent.
It’s no coincidence that the ETC is located on the canal close to the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) and to Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Research programs at IUSM and other Indiana University schools are the ideal breeding ground for promising new ideas. Typically, however, a lack of adequate facilities and the absence of adequate venture capital locally conspire to inhibit the germination of ideas into successful companies.
That's what makes the ETC a “win-win” for everyone connected with the facility. It gives start-up businesses a place to prosper by providing close contact with the resources of Indiana University. With the assistance of KSOB (that's the Kelley School of Business), ARTI, and the faculty and staff of IU, the Center's tenants have access to affordable, well-equipped office space, business advisors, venture capital, new ideas, and management expertise. Indiana University faculty get opportunities to consult with new businesses as well as bring their ideas to bear in the marketplace. Furthermore, students gain valuable internship experiences, part-time employment opportunities, and future employment prospects.
The ETC is an important resource for the future economic development of Indiana, too. Incubators are critical to growing companies that will employ high-wage workers and provide the future tax base of Indiana. Consider these facts:
Many local businesses and corporations recognize the value the ETC incubator brings to the community and have made significant investments in ETC’s future, in the form of both outright gifts and gifts in kind. Among them are Ice Miller; Bose McKinney and Evans, LLP; Baker and Daniels; THERON; Colliers Turley Martin and Tucker; Pepper Construction; CID Equity Partners; Roche Diagnostics; Sommer Barnard Ackerson Attorneys, PC; Tilson HR; BSA LifeStructures; MacAllister Machinery Company; Browning Investments, Inc.; Thomas P. Miller and Associates; Barnes and Thornburg; and National City Bank of Indiana.
The ETC is the first step in establishing a Research Park in Indianapolis dedicated to the development of technology and life science companies. By all accounts, it is making giant strides toward an amazing new phase of business development in Indiana.
>Ellen Crowe
Read more about Advanced Research and Technology Institute and the Emerging Technologies Center.