The idea of a business incubator has been around for along while now, especially in cities encouraging ‘light industrial’ or technology start-ups in the for-profit world. The purpose of an incubator, as its name implies, is to provide space and resources for new business ideas (seedlings) to take root and grow. The ultimate success measure is when these small businesses grow large and self-sufficient enough to move out of the incubator space and into their own offices and warehouses.<\/p>\n
\nThe traditional incubator model includes subsidized rent in flexible warehouse\/office space, access to financing, and management support and training services. According to the National Business Incubation Association<\/a> (yes, again, there’s an association for everything):<\/p>\n \nAlways eager for a good idea, arts and city planning folks around the country have applied the same idea to artists and arts organizations. The ‘arts incubator’ is now a frequent initiative in community development plans, not just to foster arts activity but to revitalize blighted areas of town (see Flashpoint<\/a> in DC, or the arts incubator in Arlington<\/a>, VA, or another in San Jose, CA<\/a>, or this book on the subject<\/a>).<\/p>\n \nArts incubators can be fabulous ways of aggregating resources, sharing space and infrastructure, clustering creative individuals to encourage collaboration, and bumping up the quality of work and quality of life of their participants. The challenge comes when such efforts inherit the end goal of their for-profit counterparts: growth and graduation.<\/p>\n \nSearch most of these arts incubator descriptions, and you’ll find the word ‘growth’ all over the place. The success measure, implicit or explicit, is to grow arts organizations out of these shared spaces and into their own. The extension of that assumption is that most will also ‘grow’ into individual nonprofit status, get their own governing boards, raise their own endowments or annual contributions, and move to self sufficiency.<\/p>\n
\nIncubators nurture young firms, helping them to survive and grow during the start-up period when they are most vulnerable. Incubators provide hands-on management assistance, access to financing and orchestrated exposure to critical business or technical support services. Most also offer entrepreneurial firms shared office services, access to equipment, flexible leases and expandable space — all under one roof.
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