18/03/2009
(Edmonton, Alberta) The Regional Alliance officially celebrated its 1st Milestone with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding amongst five local business incubators.
What started out as a planning exercise in 2007 to see how the region’s business service providers could collaborate to support entrepreneurs, evolved into a regional alliance strategy as TEC Edmonton, the Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI) and novaNAIT identified areas where early-stage entrepreneurs needed coordinated assistance.
This sparked the Regional Alliance’s discussion with other incubators namely Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC) and the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) to work together on developing a consensus on how to coordinate business incubation services.
“As business accelerators we’re all acutely aware that to gain credibility, early-stage business needs a home,” says David Cox, CEO of TEC Edmonton. “At the TEC Centre we receive inquiries for space and sometimes we are not the best fit for that entrepreneur, that’s why facility collaboration is so important. The last thing we want to do is turn an entrepreneur away, and now we shouldn’t have to.”
Through a Memorandum of Understanding, the five incubators have agreed to work efficiently to utilize limited local incubator resources by leveraging each other’s expertise, services and programs to achieve efficiencies and economies of scale.
“Each incubator within this Regional Alliance has specific strengths and offerings,” says Stuart Cullum, Executive Director, novaNAIT. “As entrepreneurs grow their businesses they will require a broad array of support services and this MOU lays a framework for connecting all of the services available within the region.”
The incubators agree to coordinate their lease application process so that tenants don’t have to shop around. They will not compete with each other on rental rates; rather the goal is to match the entrepreneur with the ‘best fit’ – the incubator that has the most appropriate value-added services that will help that business grow.
“NABI is really a Business Development Network,” says Dar Schwanbeck, NABI’s Managing Director. “We want to be a part of developing and diversifying our region’s business community collectively utilizing our space, expertise, resources, and connections to make that happen.”
Developing Alberta’s entrepreneurial capacity and our ability to commercialize technology developed locally is key step in Alberta’s Action Plan: Bringing Technology to Market previously announced by Alberta Advanced Education and Technology.The Regional Alliance is dedicated to doing our part, by guiding entrepreneurs through Edmonton’s innovation ecosystem.
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Contact
Nadia Andersen, Communications and Marketing Manager, TEC Edmonton
780-492-1865
Nadia.Andersen@TECedmonton.com
Background
The Regional Alliance is a partnership amongst TEC Edmonton, novaNAIT and the Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI) formed to proactively address the needs of early-stage companies in the Greater Edmonton region through delivering support and resources. The Alliance has developed a strategy that includes coordinated programs to assist in developing local entrepreneurial talent and helping early-stage companies compete in the marketplace, and become successful ventures. Initially, this will be done by finding the right incubators and creating streamlined access points to other business development resources in the region. The Regional Alliance therefore welcomes its two newest members Edmonton Economic Development Corporation and the National Institute for Nanotechnology. Support for the initiatives undertaken by the Regional Alliance is provided by Alberta Advanced Education and Technology.
SIGNATORIES TO THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
Dr. David Cox, CEO, TEC Edmonton
Dr. Nils Petersen, Director General, National Institute for Nanotechnology
Candace Brinsmead, Vice President Technology Advancement, Edmonton Economic Development Corporation
Dar Schwanbeck, Managing Director, Northern Alberta Business Incubator
Stuart Cullum, Executive Director, novaNAIT
Fact Sheet
Edmonton Research Park Incubators
The Edmonton Research Park incubators include the Advanced Technology Centre (ATC), the Research Centre One (RC1) and Biotechnology Business Development Centre (BBDC). The Advanced Technology Centre serves a first-stage business incubator for start-up companies, including month-to-month leases and shared services. The Biotechnology Business Development Centre offers affordable office and wet-lab spaces. The Research Centre One also offers affordable office and wet-lab spaces for lease.
Number of companies: 40 (ATC 28, RC1 8, BBDC 4)
Size: ATC – 43,279 sq. ft.
RC1 – 41,027 sq. ft.
BBDC – 67,358 sq. ft.
Number of staff employed by tenants in the 3 facilities: 333
TEC Centre
TEC Edmonton operates the TEC Centre, an incubation facility located in the heart of downtown Edmonton, on the fourth floor of Enterprise Square. The TEC Centre offers flexible lab and office lease space for tenants to conduct their business and develop their technologies. Benefiting from being in a cross-disciplinary environment, the tenants may access TEC Edmonton expertise and programs such as TEC Source Advisory Panel, Alberta Deal Generator, and the TEC Executives in-Residence.
Number of companies: 22
Size: 46,000 sq. ft.
Sectors: life sciences, ICT, nanotechnology, agriculture
Number of staff employed by
tenants: 80
NINT Innovation Centre
Located on the fourth floor of the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) on the University of Alberta campus, the NINT Innovation Centre has 15 units of office and wet or dry laboratory space for companies with a nanotechnology aspect to their business. It can also provide access to scientific and engineering expertise and world-class equipment and facilities on a fee-for-service or other collaborative model.
Number of companies: 9
Size: 16,000 sq. ft.
Sectors: nanotechnology
Number of staff employed by tenants: 29
Resources include: meeting rooms, close relationship to NRC Industrial Research Assistant Program
novaNAIT
novaNAIT has two incubator facilities – abrand new centre in St. Albert and the Duncan McNeill Centre for Innovation (DMCI) on its main Campus. novaNAIT also works with the NAIT Shell Manufacturing Centre (SMC). The DMCI incubation facility has eleven suites available for early stage companies and entrepreneurs. The suites vary in size from one-person suites to four-person suites depending on the needs of tenants. The St. Albert facility now triples novaNAIT’s incubation capacity. The Shell Manufacturing Centre houses nine labs with $4.4 million of new equipment and $5.6 million of new software and facilities that include an Advanced Hydraulics & Pneumatics lab, two Mechanical Computer Assisted Design labs, and a Computer Integrated Manufacturing lab.
Number of companies: 5
Size: 13,369 sq. ft. in two facilities
Number of staff employed by tenants: 13
Northern Alberta Business Incubator (NABI)
NABI operates two incubation facilities in St. Albert and provides a full spectrum of services. From programs and business coaching, office space and meeting room rentals, to reception, video conferencing and office technology services.
Number of companies: 55 clients (45 businesses in incubation facilities and 10 virtual clients)
Size: 41,000 sq. ft.
Number of staff employed by tenants: 146