New businesses face daunting challenges before and after they launch. Just navigating the path to launch can be overwhelming.
Montgomery County, Maryland, aims to make that journey less challenging through its , which includes 鈥� in Germantown, Rockville and Silver Spring. These incubators help businesses achieve a soft landing in the county. The Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) works in partnership with the Business Center and the incubators to help companies launch and gain access to the resources they need.
Each incubator in the Business Innovation Network has specific industries that it focuses on, but the incubators can accept any business when it makes sense for the business and the county:
- The specializes in life science companies. It features wet lab space, offices, shared equipment and a partnership with Montgomery College鈥檚 state-of-the-art biotech facilities.
- The supports medical technology, cyber, health IT and life science companies. In the heart of Rockville Town Square鈥檚 VisArts Center, near the Rockville Metrorail stop, it features a large coworking space for startups.
- The emphasis is on health care information technology and cybersecurity. It provides a setting with an industrial feel for health IT and cyber companies and offers unique support for minority-, female- and disabled-owned businesses.
All three incubators provide space on a flexible basis without long-term lease obligations. They also offer free education opportunities for companies as they establish themselves and a support system that includes seminars and training sessions for client companies, referrals to relevant business growth resources, 聽CEO roundtables and networking events. The county鈥檚 incubators are also part of the Maryland Department of Commerce鈥檚 Global Gateway Program, which supports soft landing activities for international companies setting up a U.S. headquarters or East Coast location in Montgomery County.
To learn about the incubator program up close, 蜜桃视频app spoke with three entrepreneurs about their companies鈥� use of the innovation network as a launchpad for their startups in Montgomery County.
How incubators act as business hubs
For Deka Biosciences, the Germantown incubator proved profoundly instrumental in starting the company, which designs and develops new immunotherapy treatments for patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases, said John Mumm, president and CEO. therapies focus on each individual鈥檚 molecules to stimulate the immune system to destroy tumors.
鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 be where we are without them. They have completely enabled us to grow faster than I鈥檝e ever grown a company before,鈥� Mumm said of the Business Innovation Network.
Tracy Rausch, founder and chief innovation officer of DocBox, expressed a similar view. The Silver Spring incubator 鈥渉as given us a home in Montgomery County to be able to have better and closer interactions with the various government agencies and our sponsors,鈥� she said.
Rausch described as a digital health business that can help doctors and nurses improve decisions in intensive care units by making health data available at the point of patient care.
Working with the team at the Rockville incubator, Mario Urdaneta, founder and CEO of Micro Recycling Systems, learned about new capital funding sources that he hadn鈥檛 considered. That led to a micro-grant for purchasing scientific equipment.
鈥淲hen you are developing and enabling technologies, you are asking your stakeholders, your future customers, your financiers, to think of, to dream of a future that currently doesn鈥檛 exist,鈥� Urdaneta said. 鈥淚 have found a stark difference in the reaction from people when I tell them that I鈥檓 part of a Montgomery County incubator. It鈥檚 as if suddenly they are open to what I have to say.鈥�
is developing innovative technologies and next-generation recycling machinery that he described as 100 times smaller in size and price than current options. 鈥淭he goal is to enable the capture of vast amounts of plastic that is currently without a path to recycling,鈥� Urdaneta said.
How incubators deliver tangible results
There a real bottom line value in launching a new business from a country incubator, said Mumm, who has experience starting companies in both Boston and the San Francisco Bay area.
In particular, he talked about the 鈥渢riple net鈥� benefit of working from an incubator when it comes to space: real estate taxes, building insurance and maintenance.
鈥淚f you have never started a company before, you really don鈥檛 understand that having facilities ready to go, having the lights on, having a backup generator, having a freight elevator 鈥� all these things that all of the incubators have in place, if I were to try and build that the price point just to get into a space would be a couple of hundred thousand dollars,鈥� Mumm said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a couple of hundred thousand dollars that I would much rather spend doing research or hiring people or something that.鈥�
Plus, Montgomery County offers an environment that鈥檚 second to none in the country to help entrepreneurs build and grow their businesses.
Rausch pointed to the region鈥檚 鈥減opulation base of human capital to be able to hire. And in some areas, that鈥檚 actually a tough find.鈥� Then, there鈥檚 also the world-class universities and research communities, along with access to federal government agencies. 鈥淓verything鈥檚 at your fingertips to be able to be part of the process,鈥� she said.
Location matters to all three entrepreneurs, with each one citing the proximity to government agencies as beneficial, particularly the Food and Drug Administration in the case of Deka Biosciences and DocBox. Rausch also said she works closely with the Army. And Urdaneta said he has benefited from being close to the National Institutes of Health and to Defense Department facilities in the region.
MCEDC works in partnership with organizations like Montgomery County鈥檚 Business Center and its incubators to help businesses start and grow in the county. MCEDC connects businesses to top talent, partnerships, resources and incentives. As one of the most diverse counties in the country, Montgomery County is a welcoming place for business growth.
Be next for success in Montgomery County, Maryland.聽To learn more about the Business Innovation Network and launching a startup in Montgomery County, connect with @BINMCMD and the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation @thinkmoco.com, or visit聽听补苍诲听.
