BCC incubator to nurture life-science businesses
BYLINE: EILEEN SMITH Reach Eileen Smith at (856) 486-2444 or esmith@courierpostonline.com
Facility, which has five labs, is looking for start-up companies
By EILEEN SMITH
Courier-Post Staff MOUNT LAUREL
New Jersey's first incubator for life-science businesses at a two-year school is open and ready for entrepreneurs.
Burlington County College's $3.5 million Science Incubator offers five 600-square-foot labs, each equipped with fume hoods, acid storage and jets for air, gas and suction. More than 3,000 additional square feet can be built to suit tenants.
"New Jersey is the medicine chest of America and we think this is the ideal spot for small life-science businesses to grow," said Paula Fett, director of small business development for BCC.
Fett, who was director of the Trenton Business and Technology Center, is casting a wide net for entrepreneurs, through statewide direct mailings, trade shows and outreach to pharmaceutical companies. She said three companies are reviewing lease proposals.
The incubator is the second at BCC, also home to the High-Technology Incubator, and the 14th in New Jersey. Designed to nurture fledgling businesses for 24 months to four years, incubators offer attractive rents, as well as assistance with grant proposals, training, micro loans and business development.
In 2006, there were more than 600 companies in incubators in the state, which generated combined revenues of $200 million, as well as 1,580 jobs, said Michel Bitritto, president of the New Jersey Business Incubator Network.
Rents at the science center will average $2,000 per month for a 600-square-foot space, which Fett said was in the mid-range for incubators.
The lead tenant is the Center for Public Health Preparedness of Burlington County, which trains health professionals in emergency medicine. That facility was relocated from the high-tech incubator, which currently houses 21 businesses. There is currently one opening, Fett said.
Among its graduates is Wai Tak Law, whose business, PortaScience, was named New Jersey company of the year in 2006 by the Philadelphia World Trade Center. The maker of portable medical tests now operates in Moorestown.
"After the success we've seen with our first High-Technology Business Incubator, we thought it was necessary to build a second incubator focusing on the life sciences," said Robert Messina Jr., BCC president.
Fett, 37, came on board earlier this year. In addition to directing the Trenton incubator, she has managed a payroll and accounting company.
"I know what it's like to run a small business," she said.
The science center was funded with money from the state and county and received an $80,000 grant this week from the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. The high-tech incubator received a $130,000 grant.
Bitritto said state funding for incubators is disappointing, a trend she hopes the start-up community can reverse by cultivating political relationships.
"The people running incubators haven't been good about working with our local representatives," she said.
Reach Eileen Smith at (856) 486-2444 or esmith@courierpostonline.com
MORE INFORMATION
Burlington County College's Science Incubator
Address: 100 Technology Way, Mount Laurel
Phone number: (856) 222-9311
Web site: www.bcc.edu