Guelph launches bid for business incubator
BYLINE: LAURA THOMPSON, MERCURY STAFF
DATELINE: GUELPH
Guelph wouldn't experience an innovation gap in the agri-food and agri-technology sector if the province backed a proposal to build a Guelph-based business incubation centre, says a business development specialist for the city.
Barbara Maly, who works with the agri-food and innovation sectors, said the proposed facility would help entrepreneurs move their technology from research and development to commercialization.
Various incubators already exist around the province including the info technology-driven Waterloo Accelerator Centre and the Stiller Centre, a London-based facility focused on commercializing emerging biomedical technology.
The Guelph facility would tap into the burgeoning fields of agri-food and nutraceuticals, bioproducts and agri-technology. It would provide communal space, equipment and services, such as mentoring, for startup companies.
"That's where the gap is right now," Maly said. "What we've recognized is it's important to have the infrastructure in order to support emerging technology in this sector."
While there are other resources that already exist in the community -- among them BioEnterprise, Guelph Food Technology Centre and the Agri-Centre -- none act specifically as incubators, Maly said.
"We feel this is still the missing link for us to continue to grow," she said.
Six thousand people in Guelph work in the agri-food or agri-technology sector.
The Guelph incubator would represent a partnership between the city and many stakeholders including the University of Guelph, Guelph Partnership for Innovation and potentially Conestoga College.
The city is hoping for an investment from the provincial and federal governments in building and operating an incubation centre if a 2008 study finds such an initiative is feasible, Maly said.
Mayor Karen Farbridge said the city pitched the idea to the province in August at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference.
A letter received by the city from the Agriculture Ministry at the end of September was optimistic about the project, and encouraged the city to resubmit its proposal following the provincial election.
Farbridge said the next step is to arrange a meeting with MPP Liz Sandals and then conduct a needs analysis and feasibility study.
The project also appears to align with preliminary findings of a consultant's report for the York District lands.
The province hired Toronto-based AuthentiCity to explore future development options for a parcel of land that includes the former Guelph Correctional Centre and the Turfgrass Institute.
In a public forum this summer, Glen Murray, the project consultant, said a biotechnology park would capitalize on emerging industries with roots in Guelph.
Farbridge said the incubation centre would be the realization of that vision.
"What we're talking about here is very consistent with the direction that the Glen Murray report was moving in, in terms of identifying research and innovation at the university and how you can leverage that," Farbridge said.
But Maly said it's premature to speculate whether an incubation centre would be suitable for the York District lands.
She said that would depend on timing and whether there were other location possibilities.
Guelph Partnership for Innovation is a consortium of private and public stakeholders with a mandate to make Guelph one of the top five life science centres in North America.
Executive director Jim Wadleigh said an incubation centre would help make the long road from research to industry less overwhelming.
"It's one thing to walk out of a lab with a petri dish and say, 'Look what I found,' and turn that into a company that has jobs and services," he said.
"In the early stages, it takes some investment and that can be beyond the means of people who want to take the company forward."
Steven Liss, associate vice-president of research services at the University of Guelph, said an incubation centre would allow the city to capitalize on its strengths.
"Agri-food is a very big part of what Guelph has to offer and it has a long history in this area," he said. "The idea (of an incubator) is to bring some convergence and focus to it."
John Kelly is executive director of MaRS Landing, which facilitates the commercialization of innovation in the agriculture and food sectors.
He said there are currently no incubation centres dedicated to agriculture, food and bioproducts.
"We need to make it easy for new technology to come to market," he said. "Not every new technology is going to make it but we need to give it the opportunity."