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Louisiana Business & Technology Center Awarded for Sustained Success
Louisiana State University's Business and Technology Center (LBTC) recently received the National Business Incubation Association's (NBIA) 2005 Randall M. Whaley Incubator of the Year award, recognizing overall excellence in business incubation programs. The award is NBIA's most prestigious honor, presented as a tribute to NBIA's first chairman.
As a measure of LBTC's success, an economic analysis released this month by the Louisiana Technology Park reveals steady progress in the local economy and start-up companies in the Baton Rouge area. LBTC is the innovating hub for the Louisiana Technology Park, which will help create an additional 443 new jobs in 2005. The total is up from 272 jobs projected in 2004, according to the analysis.
LSU Economics Professor James Richardson, who conducted the analysis, said the jump in numbers is directly related to the nearly 50 percent increase in incubator tenants at LBTC. The park's comprehensive business accelerator grows early-stage companies in the Internet and high-tech sectors. Services include low rent for tenants, access to high-volume data storage, shared office services and utilities, access to venture capital, direct Internet connectivity, and access to mentors within various professions.
In addition, LBTC counsels approximately 350 outreach clients from the Baton Rouge area and operates the Louisiana Technology Transfer Office to foster business relationships with federal laboratories. LBTC-assisted businesses created nearly 9,000 jobs in the state since 1988 and, in 2004 alone, the incubator's 25 client companies had a combined payroll of more than $3 million and combined sales of over $6 million, according to LSU.
More information on LBTC is available at: http://www.bus.lsu.edu/lbtc/. The economic analysis, Louisiana Technology Park 3 Year Review, is available at: http://www.latechpark.com/
To view the full list of NBIA's 2005 and past award winners, visit: http://www.nbia.org/awards_showcase/index.php
Louisiana