Facilities Management for Business Incubators: Practical Advice and Information for Design, Construction and Management of 21st Century Business Incubation Facilities

Business Incubators/accelerators/coworking spaces can be key drivers of economic development. The typical business incubator is in a suburban setting in an area with a population of less than 500,000. Universities or university-affiliated non-profits operate most incubators. The standard incubator has 15-20 companies when full and a “mixed profile” of University and non-university clients from many industry areas, including pharmaceutical, Information technology, medical technology, “biotech,” and engineering – even retail. The model for most incubators has shifted in the past decade – economic development professionals are now relying on incubation, a “grow-your-own” entrepreneurial model rather than an attraction model, as the tax-incentive and relocation package concepts of the past have faded in their effectiveness to convince companies to move to new locations. Incubators are also beginning to “specialize” in various concentrations, such as “Clean-tech” or “alternative energy,” to emphasize and attract specific industry sectors and to focus on the core competencies of associated research Universities. Also, many incubators/accelerators/coworking spaces are capitalizing on the resources provided by industry associations, such as access to specialized equipment and partnerships with leading scientists. Accelerators are defined differently, and many are concentrated in major metropolitan areas with ready access to capital and intensive programs designed to help businesses succeed in rapid fashion. Coworking spaces are gaining in favor by providing a solid environment for collaboration and business growth, with exciting programs and educational activities to assist in business formation and strategic direction. The commonality here, for this book, is the facility itself – the physical and operational strategy of business incubation is a process - a great business incubator involves programming, mentoring, education and many other efforts to insure small business growth. Business incubation also usually involves an actual physical site, a building where clients have specialized types of spaces. Most clients are looking for a collaborative, reasonably-priced and well-designed space for their business. They want to look professional, have adequate space for their employees, and have space for growth. Planning, designing and operating such a business incubation facility takes lots of background knowledge and lots of effort; this book is an attempt to cover a significant amount of the planning and strategy involved with facilities management. While many incubation professionals have an entrepreneurial background, few have a background in designing and operating a physical facility. The complexities of such systems as heating, ventilation and air conditioning; plumbing and electrical; lighting; fire alarms and sprinklers; security; elevators and stairs; and many other systems are often "uncharted territory" for incubation professionals. While this book addresses these key systems, it also incorporates design tips and ideas for "green building" compliance, ADA compliance and flexible design. While standardizing sizes of spaces may be easier for construction, inserting features such as "hotel doors", flex panels and varying the sizes of spaces can assist companies in growth and development, helping the incubator adapt to their needs. A review of adapting existing buildings or building a new building from the group up is conducted in this book.Also, after the physical construction takes place, an incubation professional must consider the operations aspect of managing an incubation building - this may include raising funds, maximizing operating revenues, and running programs. One book on Facilities Management cannot possibly cover every topic related to business incubation and its variants but we hope you find this book full of ideas, strategies, advice and tips that will prove useful to your program!