UTech's incubator helping start-ups

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Eight years after it was launched amid high expectancy, administrators at the Technology Innovation Centre (TIC) say the facility is meeting its objective of helping to kick-start small businesses.

The TIC is a business incubator located at the University of Technology (UTech) in St Andrew. It is affiliated with that institution's College of Business through its School of Entrepreneurship, which was launched in June.

Dionne Palmer is incubator manager of the TIC, which provides guidance to young entrepreneurs. She told The Gleaner that 88 per cent of its programmes are occupied.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm," Palmer said. "We get many applications throughout the year from persons wanting to be part of the programme."

Currently, there are 50 clients in the TIC with entrepreneurs whose ages range from 20 to 35. They are segmented in its residential or virtual schemes.

The former offers office space at the UTech compound, complete with Internet, phone and parking facilities. Clients have a maximum three-year residency.

Their counterparts in the virtual programme operate businesses off campus but are afforded privileges such as holding meetings at the TIC or giving the unit as an address.

Palmer said the current TIC resident roster is diverse, including website developers, manufacturers and architects.

Plans approved

They qualified after their business plans were approved by the organisation's selection committee.

Damian Edmond is principal of Form Architects, one of the TIC's residential clients. The company has four employees (three architects and a engineer) and is nearing the end of its residency.

Edmond is a graduate of UTech's School of Architecture and also lectures at the school. He said the TIC has given Form Architects a solid launching pad when it leaves next July.

"It's a model that can't lose, really," Edmond explained. "Your business depends on a good location and there's not a lot of that in Kingston."

He added: "Here, we have security and strong support services. TIC has helped give us a lot of exposure, they've been like a big brother holding our hand."

That brotherly attention is not entirely free. Clients in the residential plan pay as much as $45,000 a month while virtual costs are $4,000 a month.

Palmer disclosed that collecting rent from clients has not always been smooth, especially in the last 18 months when there has been a worldwide financial crunch.

"The recession affected many clients because revenue was down and they had to scale down, but the economy has looked up and delinquency has dropped off," she explained.

Popular concept

Business incubators have be-come a popular concept globally, helping to stimulate micro enterprises in major economies like India and South Africa. The TIC, which is reportedly one of the first in the English-speaking Caribbean, cost US$2.9 million to build, largely through funding from the Canadian International Development Agency.

Palmer said clients benefit from seminars on business principles which are usually addressed by UTech lecturers and private-sector leaders. The TIC has provided training for aspiring entrepreneurs in struggling communities, like Swallowfield in east Kingston and the Agency for Inner-city Renewal, which is located in Trench Town.

To meet the growing demand from university-level aspirants, Palmer says the TIC plans to add another component to its programme.

"There has been so much interest from universities that we hope to launch a student incubator, maybe early in the new year," she said.

Entrepreneurship Week

The Young Entrepreneurs Association of Jamaica will launch its first Entrepreneur-ship Week on November 21 with an exposition at the Wyndham Kingston hotel, starting at 9 a.m.

Among the other events to be held during the week are:

Youth Seminars

November 23

Youth Information Centres: Kingston & St Andrew, St Ann and Portland

Lecture

November 24, 4 p.m.-7 p.m.

Technology Innovation

Centre

University of Technology

Gala Dinner

November 26, 7 p.m.-11 p.m.

Wyndham Kingston hotel

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